Watching You
by PasifiKStaR
Summary: COMPLETE! AU: SquinoaPolicies, politics, and people stand between them with Rinoa's secret being the driving force. Keeping secrets might be the key to romance, but revealing them is a test of love.
1. Let Me Take You Away

**Watching You**  
_Chapter One: Let Me Take You Away_  
By PasifikStar

Author's Note: Had enough of me yet? (Evil laughter) Here's an AU that is the result of tons of different story ideas that I melted into one big, confusing, ball of fluffy... um...dramatic...uh...stuff? -_-;; Anyway, I used one of the intro scenes in "Forbidden Love" for how Rinoa and Squall met. I really want to watch the rest of that drama...anyway, let the confusion commence! I have 3 midterms this week, so I won't be updating for while! Sorry!! 

* All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"Balamb Garden!?" a voice shrieked as she looked at her father in horror. "WHY!?" 

"Rinoa, don't make such a big deal of it," a middle aged man said as he sat at the head of the long dinner table, across from his only daughter. "It's only for a few months." 

"But WHY?" Rinoa continued to plead as she stared at him. She held a knife in one hand and a fork in the other and had stopped cutting through her steak when her father dropped the news on her. "What's wrong with my school now?" 

"Nothing is wrong, Rinoa," he stated sternly as he looked up at her. "Unless you count the stalkers and deranged fans." 

"That's not my fault!" she gasped out. "How can you punish me by moving me to a different school when it's not even my fault that those people came after me!" 

"I think it's for your own good," the General told her. "It's in a secluded area, away from large crowds. You'll be unknown. A normal student. Isn't that what you want?" 

Slowly her chocolate brown eyes lowered and she nodded. "It is but-" 

"That what is the problem?" he asked tiredly. "Balamb Garden is a fine school. You said so yourself." 

"It's a fine school for Seifer, maybe, but not for me!" Rinoa gasped. "Father, it is a MILITARY school!" 

"You can always use a little discipline." 

"No! You can't make me go!" 

* * *

"What?" Seifer snorted as he sat out in the quad with a woman with white hair and a large tan brunette. He held a cellular phone up to his ear. "When?" 

"When do you think!?" a voice growled in his ear. He winced as he held the phone away from him. "At the start of the new semester!" 

"Hey," Seifer looked over at the white haired woman. "When does the new semester start?" 

"Tomorrow." the woman stated simply. 

"You're coming here tomorrow?" Seifer asked. 

"I'm on my way there now! What am I going to do!?" the female voice on the phone shouted. 

"Stop yelling at me!" Seifer shouted back. "Listen, just give us a call when you get here. We'll show you around." 

"You were in on this, weren't you?" she suddenly accused. "You just LIVE to make my life a living hell." 

He smirked. "Why must you assume that my life revolves around making your life hell? Aren't WE the cocky bastard." 

"Damn right you are," she retorted proudly. "Grr...fine! I'll call you when I get there." There was a beep and she hung up. 

"When is she arriving, ya know?" said the tall, muscular tanned man with the dark hair. 

Seifer snapped his cell phone closed and shoved it in his back pocket. "Tonight," he replied casually. "Looks like her old man actually went through with it." 

"Okay?" the white haired woman asked. 

He snorted and shook his head. "She's not happy," he stood up and brushed off his dark pants and white jacket as he walked up the steps two where the two other people were waiting. They began to walk down the hall. "Just be prepared for the whiny annoyance that is Rinoa Caraway." 

Just as he said her name, they passed by a spiky haired blond with a tattoo on his face. He was running down the hall, holding folder he had been sent to deliver. _Rinoa Caraway_. He froze. 

*Wait...did Seifer just say 'Rinoa Caraway'? Rinoa Caraway the singer? Rinoa Caraway the model?* he thought to himself. He turned his head sharply behind him. 

"But it'll be fun to watch the little princess be whipped into shape," Seifer snickered. "Fujin, Raijin, I know she's our friend, but if she does something wrong, we can't let her off, understand?" 

"Affirmative." the white haired woman named Fujin stated. 

"I'm sure she'll be fine, ya know." Raijin added. 

The blond who was listening in on their conversation allowed his mouth to drop as he looked at them. *Oh my Hyne! She's coming HERE!? Balamb Garden? Is he serious!?...I have to tell Selphie!* 

He turned back around and headed towards the direction he had been going. 

* * *

"And that is the cafeteria," Seifer pointed to a set of doors and then looked down at the brunette in light blue and black clothes who was looking at a map. He grumbled and grabbed it. "Pay attention to the tour and you won't need a map!" 

"I wouldn't NEED a map if the tour was any good," Rinoa retorted as she grabbed it back. "I knew I should've asked Fujin. She's always good with directions." 

"She's right about that, ya know." Raijin said with a nod. 

"Shut up, Raijin," Seifer grumbled. "Okay, fine...Fujin, you try giving the stubborn princess a tour." 

"Affirmative." Fujin said. She gave a slight caught and began to walk backwards, beckoning Rinoa to follow her. 

Rinoa followed Fujin with Seifer and Raijin behind her as the white haired woman pointed out rooms, levels, and interesting places in the Garden. Rinoa had stuffed the map into her back pocket and was nodding with interest as she looked around. 

At the end of the tour, Fujin tested her. "Cafeteria?" 

"Down the hall, to the left." 

"Ballroom?" 

"Up the hall, to the right." 

"Training room?" 

"Up two levels, follow the arrows to the left. Sixth door to the right." Rinoa repeated. 

Fujin smirked and looked at Seifer. He scowled and glared at the two women. "I know you both are conspiring against me..." he mumbled viciously. 

"I wish..." Rinoa mumbled. She looked at one of the clocks in the wall. "When's curfew?" 

"One a.m., ya know." 

"Great," she nodded. "Okay, I'm going to wander around by myself. Check out some stuff on my own." 

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Seifer asked. She was the new girl after all and had been there for less than a few hours. "You won't get lost?" 

"I would if you had continued with your 'tour', but since you didn't, I won't," she replied casually. "Thanks for showing me my classes and stuff guys. I'll see you tomorrow?" 

"Yeah, if you're lucky!" Seifer called out arrogantly. Rinoa shook her head and began to head down the hall. 

She and Seifer shared the same manager and had done many advertisements together. They and another model had been the trio that acted as the poster boys and girl for particular high end clothing line. That was before she started her singing career a year ago. 

After her first album went platinum, she became an over night success. She had just released her second album, which was more popular than the first. That's when all her problems started. 

Being a teenaged pop star wasn't as fun as she had hoped it to be. Stalkers and other obsessed fans came around her school, scaring away all her friends. Soon, some of her really close friends' parents wouldn't allow their daughters to speak to her any more. They said it was too dangerous because of the attention. 

Her grades began to slip and her father decided it was time to take her out of the all girls arts academy she had been attending since she was a child and put her into a 'safer' school. 

And what was safer than a military school? At first, she had wondered why he just didn't put her in Galbadia Garden. It was close to home. But then, that was the reason. It was TOO close to home. That's why she ended up in a secluded Garden like Balamb. 

She sighed heavily as she walked through the halls. Students gave her second glances, trying to see where they had seen her before. Other students openly stared at her after realizing who she was. Her father had told her that part of the reason he wanted her to go there was because Seifer went there. 

If Seifer was able to lead a somewhat normal life as a teen idol worshipped by the female population, he assumed that she could live one there as well. 

Rinoa frowned. *Of course...he forgot to take into account that Seifer is an attention whore, so living with everyone ogling him all the time is 'normal' to him...* 

As she reached the front doors of the Garden, the P.A. system went off and informed the students that they had thirty minutes until curfew. She looked around and noticed that there were just a few students wandering around the halls now. Some were looking for the classes they would have the next day. Others were catching up with friends after the break. 

She opened the doors and stepped out, walking down the path to her car in the parking lot. She had left her school supplies for the next say in the car. Digging the keys out of her pocket as she saw her car, she lifted the remote and unlocked it. 

After a few moments, she locked the door and held the binder, folders, and pencil case against her chest with one arm. Rinoa stuffed the keys back into her pocket and turned around. 

* * *

The Garden was up ahead and he glanced down at his watch, which was just peaking between his leather gloves and the cuffs of his leather jacket. *Just in time...* he thought to himself as he gripped the handles of the bike. The motorcycle roared as it sped through the open gates of the Garden. 

He leaned forward as wind whipped around him. He slowed down just a little as he turned the corner towards the parking lot. It was only then that he saw the young woman walking back towards the Garden building. His blue eyes went wide behind his dark helmet as grabbed the brakes. 

She heard the roar of a motorcycle approaching, but thought nothing of it as she walked across the parking lot. She heard a screeching sound and turned her head, her straight dark brown hair flew around her face with the night breeze as she saw the motorcycle heading towards her. 

All he could see was a blur of black and light blue clothes as he twisted the bike around to avoid her. She screamed and dropped her things on the ground as she fell over from the shock. 

A crash was heard as his bike flew out from under him, sending him rolling on the hard cement as his bike slid further away. He winced, thanking Hyne for the helmet on his head, as he felt pain rush over his body. 

She looked up and saw the leather clad young man on the ground. "Oh no..." she mumbled in shock. She stood up as fast as she could, wincing as she looked down at her leg. There was a rather nasty scratch up her right calf. She ignored the pain as she limped over to him. "Are you okay!?" she gasped. 

He was still on the ground, grumbling. He turned his head away from her. She knelt down and tried to help him up. She repeated her question and was rebuked. "I'm fine." he hissed in a deep, annoyed voice. 

"I'm really sorry! Are you hurt anywhere?" she asked. He stood up and pushed her away. 

*Yeah, everywhere...* his mind replied. He felt her hands on his arm, trying to turn him around to check for any wounds. He pushed her away. "I said I'm fine!" he growled. 

He glared at her through the helmet and watched her jerk her head back and frowned. "I'm sorry..." she whispered as she stepped back. 

Without a second thought, he headed back to his fallen motorcycle. *Shit...I just had her tuned...* he thought to himself. He walked over to the motorcycle, ignoring the burning pain in his arm. He looked down at it and swore. Blood was leaking into his leather jacket. 

Meanwhile, the young woman was on the ground, picking up her papers and pencils that had flown out of her hands. As she bent down, she noticed a thin silver chain on the ground. *That looks like mine...* she thought to herself. She reached over and picked it up. Her other hand went up to her neck unconsciously and felt for the chain. *It IS mine!* Her eyes went wide at the realization that nothing was connected to the chain. "No..." 

Behind her the man had put his motorcycle back into a standing position and removed his helmet. He glanced back at her and saw her feeling around the ground in panic. *You did knock her down...* his mind told him. *You could at least ask...* He sighed heavily. "What's wrong now?" he asked in a cold voice. 

Her back was to him as she searched for something she had lost in panic. "My ring!" she said in a trembling voice. "I can't find my ring!" 

He stood there, staring at her back and watching her pale arms and hands feel the ground for her ring. The cold wind blew through his thick mass of unruly brown hair as he put the kick stand up and placed his helmet on the seat. He walked over to her and began to look around. 

"It fell?" he asked casually. He was holding on to his arm with his right hand and Rinoa looked up. 

Her eyes immediately fell on the dark stain on his arm. "Your arm!" 

"How does it look like?" he asked, ignoring her question. 

"Wait!" she gasped as she stood up. "Your arm is bleeding! We have to get you some help-" 

He was walking around her, his blue eyes scanning the ground as she blabbered about helping him. A sparkle in the moonlight caught his eye and he smirked slightly. "Here it is." He said. 

"What...?" she asked, confused. He walked towards one of the cars and lifted up a silver band that was laying next to it's back tire. She watched with interest as he lifted up the ring and turned around. 

Her eyes went wide as she finally got a good look at his face. Blue eyes set behind dark hair and a pale complexion. They were cold and reserved, but piercing. He lifted up her ring in one hand and held it up to her. "Here." 

Her body acted on impulse and slowly reached out to receive the ring. Her warm fingers closed around it and brushed his gloved hand just before he let it go. Their eyes remained locked for a moment before he stepped back. He broke their eye contact and headed back to his waiting motorcycle. 

It roared as it sped away and she stood there, holding the ring against her chest. 

* * *

A beautiful tall, blond woman walked through the sliding doors of the infirmary. She walked down the slight corridor until she came to the last cubicle where a young man was sitting on an examination table. She let out a tired sigh as she shook her head. 

"What did you do now?" she asked tiredly as she shook her head. 

"It's nothing." he shrugged. The brown haired doctor stood up from where she was sitting next to the table, examining the wound and lecturing him. 

"Just a large scrape on his left arm," the doctor told the blond. "He seems to have fallen off his motorcycle." 

"Squall," the blond sighed. "What are we going to do with you? You know better than to ride your bike around campus." 

"I was parking it," he stated simply. He turned his cold glare to the doctor. "Dr. Kadowaki, may I leave?" 

She looked over his charts and nodded. "Yes, but be sure to keep your arm clean and bandaged. Don't move it so much or the healing skin will break and you'll bleed." 

He nodded and slid off the table. "Thank you, Dr. Kadowaki." the blond said as she followed behind the brown haired male who was putting his leather jacket back on. 

"Just try to make sure that the Commander doesn't kill himself." Kadowaki replied casually. 

Squall scowled as he walked swiftly out the doors. "Squall," a voice called behind him. He ignored the voice as the doors slid open and he stepped out into the hallway. "Squall, will you stop a moment!" 

He let out a deep breath and stopped. He turned around and looked at her with annoyed blue eyes. "Yes, Quistis?" 

"Where have you been all day?" she asked, almost scolding him. "The new semester starts tomorrow and you have paper work that needs to be done." 

At the sound of 'paperwork', he scowled even more. "Fine, I'll work on it right now." 

"You can't work on it now!" Quistis sighed. "You have to get some rest. It's already past one in the morning-" 

"If I don't get it done now, it'll be late." he stated casually as he changed direction. He headed for the administration offices rather than the residence halls. 

"Squall-" 

"Quistis! Quistis!!" a voice was shouting down the other side of the hall. The blond turned and saw a young man with a tattooed face running towards her along with a young woman with upturned brown hair and bright green eyes. 

She turned to stop Squall, but found that he already turned the corner and disappeared. Tiredly, she looked over at the two who had arrived. "What is it, you two? And why aren't you in your rooms. Curfew already started-" 

"Curfew is for the students," said the young woman with the green eyes. "We're not students. We're SeeDs." 

Quistis sighed. "You still attend classes...oh fine...Selphie, Zell...what is it?" 

"You won't believe what I heard!" Zell gasped out. "I was walking down the hall and I passed by Seifer and the other members of the Disciplinary Committee and they were talking about a new student." 

"What's so strange about that?" Quistis asked. "Every quarter we get new students." 

"No, no, no!" Selphie said energetically. "Tell her WHO they were talking about!" 

"Rinoa Caraway!" Zell shouted. 

"Isn't that cool!?" Selphie nearly shrieked. Quistis looked at them strangely. 

"Who?" 

Immediately, the two jumping students froze and stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "You're kidding..." Zell mumbled. 

"Rinoa Caraway..." Selphie trailed off, as if expecting Quistis to realize it at any moment. "The singer?" Quistis had a blank look on her face. 

"The model?" Quistis shook her head. 

"She's been on every teen magazine cover?" Quistis shrugged. 

"I'm sorry, I've never heard of her-" 

Selphie suddenly clamped her hand on Quistis' shoulder. "That's okay! We'll tell you who she is! I have her CDs in my room." 

"Selphie, I have an early class tomorrow-" 

"Oh! That's right, that's right!" Selphie gasped, letting Quistis go. "I'll bring the CDs over to YOUR room! Good idea, Quisty!" 

The blond just stared at them in shock as they ran off, proclaiming that they would meet her at her room in ten minutes. Quistis stood there. *I hate it when they do that...* 

* * *

She adjusted the uniform unconsciously as she stepped out of her forth period class. It was just before lunch and she was supposed to meet Seifer and the others at the cafeteria. Because she was not there to become a mercenary, she was put into 'easier' classes that were sticking to the standard academic teachings. 

Just because she was at a military school didn't make the learning process any different. Math was still confusing, history was still long, and her mind still wandered in her literature class. She had a science class and an open period right after lunch. 

She clutched her books and binder against her chest warily. They had been new less than twenty-four hours before, but after last night, they now bared scratches from where they had slid against the cement. And her things weren't the only ones with scratches. 

She had a rather nasty scratch on her calf, but luckily the black knee high socks she had chosen to wear covered them up. Her hair was down, falling around her face softly. Perhaps that's why so many people were looking at her. They recognized her. 

"That's her!" she would hear one person whisper to their friend. "It's Rinoa!" 

"Dude, ask her out!" one student would tell his friend as they elbowed him to approach her. 

"No! She's like a star, man...what would she want with me?" the student would reply shyly. 

Rinoa sighed. It was always like that. There were either crazy fans who stalked her or people who would stay away from her completely. *Great...just great...* As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was looking forward to seeing Seifer and the others. They treated her normally. Not like she was a virus. *No wonder I can never get a date...* 

The word 'date' sounded in her head as she blushed. For some reason, her mind went back to last night. She had spent ten minutes out in the parking lot, clutching her mother's ring against her. She could still see his face in her mind. He a boyish smile when he found the ring, although as soon as he turned to face her, it vanished. 

His cold look replaced his smile as his eyes drew her in. They were crystal pools that she drowned in and even as the sound of his motorcycle died away, she still stood there, unable to move. She hoped she would see him around. He looked quite young and perhaps he was a student. 

Of course, she'd already learned that appearances were deceiving. Her last instructor, Instructor Trepe, was around her age and teaching. Seifer was older than her, looked older than her, and was still a student. She snickered. *That's because he's dumb.* 

She wasn't looking where she was going and ran into someone. She looked up, ready to apologize when a questioning smirk looked down at her. Her apology died in her mouth. "So I take it that the princess' first day at school wasn't the greatest?" 

Her narrows narrowed. "Shut up, Seifer...I'm not in the mood," she mumbled as she walked past him. "Where are the others?" 

"They got stuck with lunch duty and will meet us in the quad later," Seifer shrugged. "So whose class did you have last?" 

"Two classes with Instructor Trepe-" 

"Quisty?" Seifer asked, smiling almost deviously from ear to ear. "REALLY... you should ask her if she misses me." 

"Hyne, Seifer, no one misses you," another female voice said behind them. They turned around and saw the pretty blond instructor walking towards them. "Hello, Miss Caraway. How was your first day?" 

"Hello, Instructor Trepe-" 

"Please, just call me Quistis outside of class." the blond assured her. Rinoa nodded. 

"Yes, Quistis...my day isn't over yet. And it's Rinoa Heartilly here. Just call me Rinoa." 

Quistis nodded and glared at Seifer. "Is he giving you any trouble?" 

Seifer let out a fake gasp and pretended to be emotionally wounded. "Quisty! How could you even suggest such a thing-" 

"Because you would." she replied, cutting him off. 

Seifer draped an arm around Rinoa's slim shoulders and brought her closer to him. She gave him an annoyed look. "Now, Quisty, no need to be jealous. Rinoa and I are just friends? Isn't that right, Rinoa?" 

"Get your heavy arm off me!" Rinoa grumbled as she wiggled out of his grasp. She shot him a glare. 

Quistis sighed and shook her head. "When will you grow up?" 

"C'mon, admit it," Seifer said with a cocky grin. "You miss me in your class, don't you?" 

"WHY would I miss you?" Quistis retorted in disbelief. "I always see you in the halls-" 

"So you notice me-" 

"And you repeated my class last year!" she added, exasperated. 

Seifer pretended to look hurt as he grabbed her free hand. "I just wanted to be with you." 

Her blue eyes glared at him and pulled her arm away. She looked over at Rinoa. "Rinoa, you be careful around him." 

"I know, Quistis," Rinoa said. "He's not right up here." She tapped her head and Seifer glared at her. 

"If you're going to be like that, I'll just have lunch with Quisty instead." Seifer said, then putting his arm around Quistis' shoulder. When he did so, Rinoa noted how cute they looked together...even while Quistis was glaring at Seifer. 

She shrugged is arm off and stepped around him. "Come with me, Rinoa," Quistis said casually. "I've heard a lot of things about you." 

"Oh..." Rinoa's eyes looked down. 

"This is quite unorthodox, but I have to comrades who would love to meet you," Quistis said. "Would you mind? I swear that they're not nearly as strange as your current company." 

She looked over her shoulder at Seifer, who seemed to be steaming because he was being ignored. Rinoa nodded. "That's all right." 

"By the way, what class do you have next?" Quistis asked. 

"I have a science class and then an open period." Rinoa explained. 

"Oh, that means you'll have Squall. He's covering the last period open period today." Quistis said with a warm smile. Rinoa tilted her head to the side, not really understanding. 

"Stay away from him," Seifer's deep voice sounded behind her. "He's not good for you." 

Quistis sighed and explained. "Seifer and Squall have been rivals since they were children," she told Rinoa. "They aren't exactly best friends." 

"We're not friends period!" Seifer snapped. 

"He's the Garden's Commander," Quistis told her. "He's-" 

"A cold, anti-social bastard who hides away in his office all day-" Seifer added, earning him a glare from Quistis. 

"I think I'll judge for myself!" Rinoa stated loudly. The two blondes were glaring at each other and Rinoa bit her lip to keep from laughing out. *Oh yeah...they are made for each other...* 

* * *

He looked at his watch. He was late for the open period study hall in the library. He had been so caught up in finishing his paper work, that he had lost track of time. It wasn't until his secretary, Xu, knocked on his door to tell him that he was late. 

*It would've helped if she had told me earlier...* his mind thought, annoyed. He entered the library and looked around. His blue eyes narrowed as he headed straight for the desk in front of the rows of desks. 

It always seemed to happen only to him. The rows of tables and chairs in front of him were occupied mainly by girls. He never understood the reason, although Selphie always said it was because he had so many admirers. Squall shook his head and put his things on the table. He looked at his watch once more and pulled the chair out to sit on it. 

He sat down and opened the roster to all attendance. Just as he opened his mouth to say the first name, the doors flew open. He looked to the side and frowned as he saw Seifer waltz in. The girls in the library began to whisper amongst themselves. It was rare to have both Seifer and Squall in the same room. 

Not because they were enemies, but because they were the Garden's resident male idols. Squall because he was good looking and cold and silent and Seifer because he was good looking and carried an air of power around him. 

Squall's blue eyes scanned the list and looked up at Seifer with cold eyes. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a cold voice. "You're not in this class." 

"Relax, commander puberty," Seifer told him casually. "I'm not here for your class." 

Squall tried to ignore the looming blond and began to read the roster. Seifer scanned the rows of young women in the library and listened intently for Squall to call out one particular name. "Rinoa Heartilly." 

"Present!" a female voice said from the back of the room. Squall looked up to make a note and froze. 

He locked eyes with the same girl he had almost ran over the night before. She was sitting in the back, a book she had been reading was covering her face earlier and she blushed as she realized who he was. "Rinoa! There you are!" Seifer said in a loud, booming voice. 

Rinoa winced as she turned and looked at him. Seifer walked over to her and pulled out the chair next to her. He sat down next to her, fully aware of Squall's glare, as he put his arm on the back of Rinoa's chair and smirked. Squall's eyes fell back on the roster. 

"Seifer, I would appreciate it if you would leave the students alone for their class-" Squall began, but Seifer ignored him. 

"So are we still up for dinner tonight?" Seifer asked, rather loudly. The girls in the class all began to whisper and Rinoa sank down in her seat. 

"Seifer, what are you doing?" she hissed, embarrassed. "I'm trying to read-" 

"Miss Heartilly, it would be very much appreciated if you would not talk to you BOYFRIEND while in the middle of class." Squall said in a deep, dangerous voice. 

Rinoa turned red and sat straight up. "He's not my boyfriend!" she shouted, as if trying to convenience him. Immediately, she felt even more stupid as she ran her hand down her face. "He's not..." 

"Is that so...?" Squall stated. His heated glare became cooler as it settled back on Seifer. "Seifer, if you bother my student again, I'll have to ask you to leave." 

"Oh, so she's YOURS now, is that it?" Seifer asked in his cocky, authority questioning voice. Rinoa buried her face in the book. 

*This cannot be happening...* she thought to herself. "Seifer...please...I'll see you at dinner. Just let me have class in peace!" she whispered to him. 

Seifer looked over at Squall once more before smoothly lifted his hand and brushing Rinoa's bangs from her face. "I'll see you at dinner then." he said loudly. He stood up and headed towards the door. 

Rinoa could feel the eyes of her classmates and Squall on her as she tried in vain to pretend like she was reading. Her heart was beating quickly in her chest and she closed her eyes tightly. 

To her relief, Squall continued the roll call and the attention was off her, if only for a moment. The rest of the hour passed without much action. Rinoa read her books for class as the other students studied. She looked up occasionally to steal glances from Squall. 

He was always busy going through his stack of paper work. Every time she looked up and saw him flipping papers and high lighting or signing something, her heart sank. Part of her wished that she could've caught him looking at her. *Wishful thinking...* she sighed to herself. Therefore, for the last thirty minutes, she drowned herself in her school work. 

It wasn't until she looked up once more that she realized that everyone had left. Everyone except the library girl, who had left her spot behind the information counter, and Squall. He was sitting at the desk, signing the last piece of paper before putting his pen down and closing the folder. 

She didn't even realize what she was doing. Rinoa piled her things up and stood up. She carried her things down the aisle between the desks and stood in front of Squall. She opened her mouth. Nothing came out. 

Squall noticed a shadow fall over his desk and he looked up. "Can I help you, Miss Heartilly?" he asked in a slightly annoyed voice. 

Rinoa swallowed hard. "I...uh...I just wanted to...um...say...thank you. For yesterday." 

Squall just stared back at her with a stern look on his face. "Whatever." 

"You have no idea what that ring means to me," Rinoa gushed out. "It was my mothers and she gave it to me just before she died and I would've never forgiven myself if I had lost it." 

Squall stood up and piled his folders on top of each other. Without another word he lifted them under one arm and headed towards the door. "You're welcome." he stated as he walked out the door. As it closed behind him, Rinoa let out a breath she hadn't even known she was holding in. 

She must've looked so stupid. 

* * *

He closed his the folder he had been going over and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Blinking tiredly he looked up at the clock. It was just past eleven, meaning the Garden was almost vacant of all students. It was party night and if the students weren't at parties, they went home for the weekend. 

He turned off the lamp on his desk and leaned back on his chair. The moonlight filtered through the window of his room and he closed his eyes. "Rinoa..." Her name slipped through his lips as naturally as air and he frowned. 

Ever since he almost ran into her, literally, he couldn't stop thinking about her. As far as he could tell, there wasn't anything special about her. She wasn't the prettiest girl in the Garden. He had seen her test scores and while she was intelligent, she wasn't the brightest crayon in the box either. 

She seemed, in retrospect, rather plain. Brown, chocolate eyes and a pale face framed by soft locks of dark brown hair. Her bangs had some blond high lights in them. And she dressed like all the other female students, so she didn't really stand out. 

The first day that week, when she was in the class he was over seeing, he had noticed her look up every once in a while at him. He could detect slight disappointment on her face every time. It amazed him how she didn't once catch him looking at her. 

He had sworn that he had zoned off for a good five minutes at one point. He hoped that none of the other students had noticed it. He opened his eyes and stood up. He needed a walk to clear his head before going to bed. After all, he had time trails in the morning. 

He grabbed his jacket off the bed post and headed out the door. He debated if he should go for a ride or not. As he reached the bottom floor of the Garden, he decided to go for it. There was nothing like riding his motorcycle through the night and feeling the wind and scenery whip past him. 

He stepped into the parking lot and saw his bike waiting for him in a reserved spot. He had left his helmet there just in case he felt like a quick ride and didn't want to go back to his room and grab his helmet. He grabbed the black and royal blue helmet and put it on. 

He straddled it and listened to it roar to life before backing out and heading towards the main gate. As he tightened his hold on the handles, he grew further and further away from his 'day job' and home. To his sides, he saw the blur of the trees and the fields as he rode on the lone road from the Garden to town. 

The ride to town seemed much too short as he arrived there. He parked his bike and got off. He held his helmet in one hand as he walked down the street. *I might as well get something to eat...* he thought to himself as he headed for the twenty-four hour mart. He had skipped dinner that day. 

After grabbed a sandwich and some coffee, of which he chugged down like water, he headed back towards his bike. As he stood by it, putting his helmet on, he noticed someone standing on the side walk across from him. 

Pale arms were wrapped around herself, obviously cold, as she wore a short white dress and heels. She looked up the street, as if looking for someone. Dark hair framed her face as she gripped a small purse in one hand. She opened it with her other hand and lifted up a small silver phone. 

"Any luck?" she asked the person on the phone. Her face told him the answer to the question. "Oh...okay...I can wait. How much longer? An HOUR?..." 

Squall looked around once more. She seemed to be alone. He began to walk across the street, making sure no cars were passing, as he removed his helmet. She didn't seem to notice him as she looked at her watch. 

"What are doing here?" he asked. 

Rinoa's head snapped up and her eyes went wide as she realized it was him. "I...um...I..." Immediately her face went red as her heart began to beat unnaturally fast. 

He gave her a questioning look. "Well?" 

Rinoa bit her lip and looked down. "I went out with Seifer and the others, but his car was parked in the wrong place and was towed," she said softly. "They went to the impound lot and told me to stay in the club. I just wanted to come outside and call...you know...see if they got the car back." 

"Then go back inside," he stated. "It's dangerous for you to be out her by yourself," *Especially dressed like that...* 

She shook her head and looked back up at him, a blush on her face. "I really don't feel comfortable there by myself," she admitted. "I'll just wait for them here." 

Squall looked around once more. He looked at his watch. It was almost twelve. He looked back at Rinoa, who didn't seem to be heading back into the club anytime soon. Finally, Squall took her hand and put his helmet in it. 

She looked up at him in question. "Put it on," he told her before she had a chance to ask why. Rinoa looked at the helmet hesitantly. "Do you want to go back to the Garden or not?" 

"Yes-" 

"Then put it on," he said. Without another thought, he lifted his hands to her face and brushed back her bangs. Under his touch, he could feel her face growing warmer. He took the helmet from her hands and put it on her head. As soon as it was on snuggly he stepped back. "Does it fit all right?" 

"I think so..." she said, her voice muffled by the helmet. "This is my first time with a helmet, so I'm not sure." 

Squall just nodded and grabbed her hand. He looked down and up the street before dragging her across it to his bike. Rinoa struggled to keep up with his long strides and stumbled along behind him. 

When they reached his bike, he let her hand go and sat on the bike. "Well?" he asked as he looked at her. "What are you waiting for? Get on." 

She shook her head nervously. "I've never..." 

"It's perfectly safe," he told her sternly. He sat up straight and shrugged out of his jacket. He tossed it to her. "Put this on." 

"But what about you-" 

"I'm used to riding without a jacket. Besides, it'll get cold and all you're wearing is...that..." he said, almost disdainfully. Rinoa blushed and put the jacket on. "Get on." 

She swallowed hard and stepped closer to the motorcycle. Squall instructed her on how to get on and even made her hold on to him while she was getting on. Within a few moments, she felt the vehicle come to life underneath her as she wrapped her arms tightly around Squall's waist. 

*Oh, Hyne...* Rinoa said as her fingers touched his stomach. A thin piece of cloth separated her from a firm six pack and she bit her lip. 

Squall could feel her body pressing against his back as he pulled the bike out of it's parking spot and on to the road. Within moments, they were racing down the street. Squall felt her hold on him tighten and he smiled. He couldn't really say he wasn't enjoying it. 

Rinoa's heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she could feel the movements of his muscles beneath his white shirt. She resisted the urge to run her hands up and down to 'explore' his body. She looked out through the helmet and saw the town fade behind them. 

Squall's hair was all over the place as they flew down the road. She smiled slightly and unconsciously rested her head against his back. 

Squall felt her rest against him and smiled slightly. He could feel the beating of her heart against his chest and felt her body against him, trusting him completely. He didn't want the ride to end, but knew it had to. He slowed down as they turned in a fork in the road. 

*But still...it wouldn't hurt to take the long way home.* 


	2. A Series of Interludes

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Two: A Series of Interludes_  
By PasifikStar

Author's Note: I'm going to stick to my usual format of using other Final Fantasy characters for minor parts. The racers/pit crew who always hang around Squall shall be the tragic heroes from 7, 9, and 10. And to ethereal-tenshi, YES, the motorcycle part IS from a Japanese Drama - "Forbidden Love". I mentioned that I used a scene from the beginning of the drama. I just loved that scene and it was really cute so I stole it. ^_^;; Please don't sue!!! The rest is all me, though. ^_^ 

* All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

It was like no one else was around them. As if the world had stopped for a moment in time just so they could relish the moment. Her first ride on a motorcycle ended as he pulled up to the front of the Garden. It hummed unnaturally quiet next to them as she reluctantly untwined her arms from his waist. 

He turned his head as she was sliding off the side of the bike, trying to regain her footing with her white heels as he held out his hand to steady her. Long, elegant fingers intertwined with his he checked to make sure she could stand on her own. 

When he let go, she felt her heart sink. She raised her head, still wearing the helmet. She could see the soft look on his face as his blue eyes locked on to hers. His gloved hands rose and gently pulled of the black and blue helmet over her head. 

She closed her eyes as the hair that had been caught in the helmet fell down around her face. Leather gloved hands brushed back her silken locks of hair. She looked up reluctantly, knowing that her face was burning with a furious blush under his gaze. 

Her heart continued to beat against her chest, threatening to come out at any moment if he continued to touch her. He held her heart shaped face in his hand as he studied her face a little longer. Her pink lips parted to speak, but were silenced as his the tip of his finger caressed her lips. 

He watched with interest as her eyes closed. Her lips seemed to kiss his finger as he pulled away from her. Their eyes locked once more as he pulled away from her. "Thank you." she whispered softly. 

His blue eyes seemed to fill with awe for just a moment as stared back at her. She didn't want him to leave. Not yet. 

Suddenly, her cellular phone went off and pain etched her face as Squall tore his eyes away from hers. "Good night." he stated simply as he shoved his helmet on. 

"Wait!" Rinoa gasped as she lifted up her phone. It was too late. Squall was already heading back out the gates and Rinoa bit her lower lip. She watched his dark silhouette vanish in the moonlight. She closed her eyes and mentally swore as she lifted up the phone. "What?" she almost growled. 

"Whoa, what's YOUR problem?" Seifer's annoyed voice said from the other line. 

"Nothing." she mumbled. 

"So where are you? We're looking all over for you!" Seifer shouted. She could hear the sound of the music blasting in the background. 

"Back at the Garden." 

"How the hell did you get there!?" 

"I got a ride." 

"From who!?" 

Rinoa looked back out towards the gates. "I'm going to sleep now. Good night, Seifer." 

"Hey! Wait! Who gave you a-" She flipped the phone closed and tilted her head back. The moonlight fell over her body and she smiled slightly. 

* * *

Her brown eyes opened as she looked around her dark room. She had one of the rooms without a window, as the rooms that had windows were reserved for high ranking SeeDs. She reached of the digital clock by her bed. 

It was...five in the morning. *That means I've been asleep for...four hours. What the hell..?* She grumbled and buried her face in her pillows. Whenever she tried to get back to sleep, she would just keep awaking up and stare at her dark ceiling. 

Grumbling, she sat up in bed and turned on her light. Maybe she could read herself back to sleep. She grabbed the nearest thing on her desk and pulled it towards her. She looked at the book and blushed. It had been the book she was reading when she had Squall watching her class. 

Her brown eyes wandered up to the chair by her desk. Hanging from it's back was a heavy, dark leather coat. Soft grayish-white fluff lined it's collar. Rinoa placed the book back down on the desk and swung her feet over the side of her bed. She stood up and walked over to the chair. 

Rinoa placed her hands on the jacket and lifted it up. He had forgotten to ask for it back when he left her standing there at the entrance to the Garden. Then again, maybe he wanted her to keep it so she wouldn't be cold. 

She looked at it intently as her fingers ran through the soft material at it's collar. She slowly put it around her and wrapped it tightly around herself. She closed her eyes and blushed. 

She could smell his scent all around her, flooding her senses as she fell back on her bed. Her eyes closed tightly as she curled up with the jacket. For a moment, she felt that he was there with her, his warm arms wrapped around her. Before she even realized it, she was asleep. 

* * *

The lights flickered on the screen and Squall removed his helmet to get a better look at the scores. Suddenly, they flashed his number and from the pit, he could hear his crew yelling and cheering as he stared up in wonder. He had broken his own record. 

"Way to go, Squall!" 

"I didn't expect anything less from you!" 

"Great job, man!" 

He smiled slightly as he put his helmet back on and rode the bike back to the pit. There, he was greeted warmly by the crew working with him and he thanked them. "This means you're in, Squall," one of the people told him. "Congratulations, man. You're finally going to get to play in the big leagues." 

"The Galbadia Fourteen..." Squall whispered as he looked back at his times. It was hard to believe. He was eighteen years old...three years of riding a motorcycle had finally culminated to this. 

"I can't believe it...three years and you've already hit the G-14." 

The Galbadia Fourteen was a fourteen day, grueling motorcycle race through a continent. It started out in Deling City and ended in Deling City. There was always a maximum of twenty five teams made up of one racer and his crew. Of course, not everyone made it back to Deling City. Whoever won was set for life. Not that he needed it. After all, the life of a SeeD Commander was pretty good. 

Regardless, he wasn't in it for the money. It was a personal issue. He wanted to show the world what he could do. A small smile graced his face as he thought about a certain dark haired girl who would probably be ecstatic to find out his had made the G-14. *Rinoa...* 

His mind drifted off to the events of last night. As he held her warm face in his hands he wanted to kiss her badly. Her soft lips were so inviting, aching to be seared by his. Yet he just stood there, staring at her as if she were an untouchable goddess. Then her phone rang. 

He recalled the look of disappointment, pain, and frustration as it registered to her that her phone was ringing. He ripped his eyes from hers and quickly sped off. He didn't know if he could resist her alluring brown eyes and soft lips any longer. 

"Rinoa?" one of the other drivers said with a smile. 

"What?" Squall asked, turning to the side. The other drivers, all about his age, if not older, smirked as he looked at them in confusion. 

"You said Rinoa," one of the other drivers smirked as several members of his team looked over at him. "Do you like her?" 

Squall gave them a look of confusion. How could they have possibly known Rinoa? Another driver let out a sigh. "Do you like her music?" he clarified, catching Squall's blue eyes in his own. 

"Her music?" Squall asked, confused. 

"Rinoa Caraway," the first driver sighed. "You know, the singer?" 

"She's also a model." the second one added. 

Squall shook his head. "I'm not talking about her." He told them. The other drivers sighed tiredly. The entire time they had known Squall, perhaps a good two years, they had never known him to mention a girl's name in their presence. Not even one of the other SeeDs. 

"How many girls out there could possibly be named Rinoa?" the later driver asked him. "Are you sure you're not talking about Rinoa Caraway? You know, she just came out with a CD. It's first two singles hit number one on the pop charts-" 

Squall was already shaking his head. "I don't listen to that kind of music." he shrugged. 

The blond driver with the blue eyes looked at him and squinted. "Do you even listen to music?" 

"If it'll shut you up, yes." Squall said. The four racers, all dressed in identical dark blue racing suits and holding matching helmets in their arms, were heading towards the locker room. 

"So whose the girl, Squall?" said the short blond with the spiky hair. "Anyone we know?" 

"There is no girl." Squall stated firmly. 

"Of course not..." said the blond with the layered hair. He winked at the other two blondes, who both smirked. Squall rolled his eyes. 

"Maybe we should follow him home and see if we can catch a glimpse of her," said the last driver with a grin. "He's so happy right now, he's bound to go straight to her to tell her the good news." 

"Yeah! Good idea, Tidus! I bet she's pretty hot, too." said the blond with the layered hair. 

"She has to be for the pretty boy." said the last blond. 

Squall held down a growl. "For the last time, Cloud, I am not a pretty boy," he stated as he turned around to glare at the three that were behind him. "And if it'll stop you three from stalking me, she's a cadet at the Garden." 

"A cadet?" Tidus asked. He looked at the others. "Zidane, Cloud...you know what that means right?" The other two looked at him as if he were crazy and shook their heads. Tidus sighed. "Squall is the Commander? She's a cadet? It's forbidden. Forbidden LOVE." 

Squall glared at Tidus. "I'm going to kill you." 

"Okay, let's just go and change and let Squall be on his way before he makes Yuna a widow." Cloud sighed, being the most mature of the group. 

"Yuna and I aren't married." Tidus commented as they by passed him and opened the doors to the locker room. 

"Oh, that's right!" Zidane said, as if he was suddenly enlightened. "You're just whipped." 

"That's it, monkey, you're dead." 

Cloud ran his hand down his face. "I have to start hanging out with people my own age..." 

* * *

Rinoa stood in front of the door to Squall's office. The metal name tag on his door said 'Commander Squall Leonhart' in bold black letters. She checked the clock on the wall. She had been standing there for an hour. 

*Okay, just go in already!* her mind shouted. *It'll be more embarrassing if he walks out and finds out standing out here like a moron!* 

She had that mental debate for the last few hours. She refused to go inside. Instead, she stood outside his door, gripping his leather jacket in her arms. She had found out from Selphie that Squall would probably be in his office doing paper work. The only time he went out was to ride his motorcycle. 

Of course, Rinoa had thanked her and left in such a hurry that she didn't hear Selphie shout that on weekends, Squall was out at the speedway doing time trails. Therefore, the young woman had spent the majority of the day in her room, trying to figure out that best way to approach him and return his jacket. 

She did want to see him again, but she didn't want to look like a stammering, nervous dolt. By sunset, she had finally made her mind and marched to his office, silently hoping that he was still there. 

Rinoa was glad to see that the lights were on through the cracks under the doorway. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. She lifted her hand to the door. 

"Rinoa?" 

She whirled around, her face blushing as she saw the young man walk in. He was dressed in loose, dark leather pants and a white shirt underneath a black and blue jacket with a racing insignia all over it. His blue eyes gave her a surprised, yet questioning look. 

"I...uh...um..." *Great...I'm stammering again...way to go...* Rinoa took a deep breath and held her arms out straight, holding up his jacket. "Thank you!" she nearly shouted. 

Squall stared at her. Rinoa's eyes were downcast as she lifted up his jacket nervously. Her face was red and he noticed that she was fidgeting slightly. He reached out and took it from her hands without a word. Her eyes slowly lifted to his and quickly went back down. "How long have you been standing here?" 

Her heart stopped in her chest. Did he know? "Just...just a few minutes..." *About sixty.* 

"Thanks," he replied in a low voice. Rinoa bit her bottom lip and nodded. She looked back up and him and he locked his eyes on hers. "I never apologized..." he mumbled. "About almost hitting you with my bike." 

"No! No! It's okay!" she stammered. "I was just caught off guard, that's all. Besides, you're the one who fell-" 

"You have a scratch on your leg," Squall said as he looked down. She was wearing her black biker shorts underneath her black dress and her boots only reached her ankle. Therefore, the scratch on her leg she had gotten when she fell was bared for all the world to see. Rinoa tried to hide her leg behind her other one as Squall knelt down looked at it. "Did you get it seen by a doctor?" 

"It's just a scratch," Rinoa insisted as she blushed furiously. Squall's bare hand touched her leg, slowly examining the wound and mentally comparing it to his own. "It's nothing, really!" 

She took a step back and Squall jerked his hand back. *I shouldn't have touched her...* his mind scolded him. "Sorry." he mumbled as he stood back up. 

"Stop it," Rinoa told him with furrowed eyebrows. "You don't need to apologize-" 

"If I was turning the corner at the right speed, I wouldn't have had to break and skid," he told her seriously. "It was my fault." 

"No, please, don't worry about it, Commander-" 

"Squall," he told her as he looked into her eyes. "My name is Squall." 

"Yes, sir-er...Squall," She blushed once more and her eyes darted away from his. She licked her lips unsurely as Squall studied her. Rinoa felt his gaze and was growing more nervous by the second. "Um...is there something on my face?" 

Squall blinked and took his eyes off of her. He shook his head. "Sorry," he said, sounding a bit confused. "Rinoa...let me make it up to you." 

"Excuse me?" 

"The accident. Let me make it up to you," Squall insisted. Rinoa tilted her head to the side. *Just say yes...don't make it any harder than it is.* 

"No," Rinoa shook her head. "Really, it was nothing-" 

"So you don't want to go out with me?" 

"Well, yes, of course I do-" Rinoa turned bright red as her eyes widened and looked up at him. "I mean...wait...I would like to go...but you know...you don't have to feel obligated to." 

She nodded, as if to assert that it was how she really felt. Squall nodded. *Well, there goes that plan...very slick, Leonhart...* His mind was scolding him. 

"I'll let you go back to work now," Rinoa said with a cheerful smile. She looked around him, trying to figure out the best way to leave without having to seem too eager to. "I'm sorry for bothering you." 

With her eyes downcast, she stepped to the side and headed towards the hall way. Squall stood there, unmoving, but unaware as his arm shot out and grabbed her wrist. Rinoa froze and turned in surprise. Slowly, his face turned to her. "I...it's my dream to take part in the Galbadia-14," he said quietly. "I just go the results in and I qualified..." His softened blue eyes turned to her. "I'd hate to celebrate alone tonight." 

* * *

She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't believe it. She felt as if here entire body were floating in air as she buried her head against his back. She could feel the wind rushing around her body as she clung on to him for dear life. 

Squall took every corner slower than usual. He paid close attention to where he was going and, as hard as it was with Rinoa pasted against his back, concentrated on the road. The last thing he wanted was to get into an accident while she was with him. Especially when she trusted him. 

Rinoa could feel his heart beating steadily against her breast as she smiled. She was wearing a spare helmet and his jacket, once again. He had insisted that she wear pants, saying it would be more comfortable. 

*You really did it...* Squall thought to himself. *You're really going out with her. You thought about it all last night...hell, you couldn't even concentrate on the time trails because of her and now you're actually taking her out.* 

Rinoa closed her eyes, drifting off into a relaxed wonderland where it was just her, Squall, and the long open road. When the motorcycle slowed down and she opened her eyes, she felt disappointment rush over her as she realized that they had arrived in town. 

They were now driving down the street, heading for a small, casual place they could eat. He pointed to a two story cafe and she nodded. They parked in the meters on the street, right outside the cafe. Rinoa removed her helmet and he took it off her hands. 

Within a few moments, they were seated on the second floor of the cafe, by the front window. Soft music played in the background as they ordered some coffee and some sandwiches. Rinoa looked out the window. The sun was setting towards the west and she smiled. 

The light of the setting sun hit her face just as Squall turned to her and he smiled slightly. She orated an almost celestial glow. He didn't even realize that she had turned to him. "Squall?" she asked in a quiet voice. "Are you okay?" 

He jerked his head back and nodded. "Are you sure a sandwich is all you want?" he asked as casually as he could. "What about some soup? The ride here probably made you cold." 

"No, I'm fine," she assured him. "Your jacket kept me warm." She smiled. *As did your hot, hot body...* 

He nodded and looked away. *Don't keep staring at her...it's weird...* 

"So...congratulations." 

"For what?" he asked, slightly confused. Rinoa raised an eyebrow. 

"For qualifying for the Galbadia-14," Rinoa said with a chuckle. "I heard that's the world's most grueling motorcycle race." 

"Any one who races knows that if you conquer the G-14, you conquer the world." Squall stated. 

Rinoa leaned forward, her elbows on the table and tilting her head to look at him. "So...why?" she asked quietly. "Why do you want to conquer the world?" 

Squall paused. He wasn't sure he knew how to answer that. "I don't know," he admitted. He shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever know." 

"But the race is crazy," Rinoa stressed. "It's fourteen days on open road. If you fall asleep in certain parts, you could die." 

"I know," Squall said. "It's part of the allure of it all. So how do you know about the G-14?" 

"I'm from Deling City," Rinoa stated proudly as she sat up straight in her chair. "Whenever the G-14 is held, there's always a big parade and celebrations and parties and stuff. The city is packed." 

"Have you ever watched it?" 

Rinoa shook her head. "It's not really my thing to watch..." she trailed off. Squall nodded and Rinoa glanced up at him. "I mean...if you were in it, I'd watch!" she told him eagerly. "I'd keep track of you and everything." 

The corners of Squall's lips lifted slightly, offering her a smile. Just the hint of it made Rinoa's heart quicken. "Thank you." 

Rinoa nodded. "You're lucky though," she said with a soft smile. Her eyes looked outside the window as she sighed. "To be able to do that. You must really love it," She paused and turned back to him. "Do you like being a SeeD?" 

"It's a job." 

"I take it that's a no..." she giggled. Squall gave her that shy smile once more. "You should smile more," she said thoughtfully. "You look really sweet smiling." 

This time it was Squall who gave a faint blush. "What about you? Do you think you'll enjoy your job after you graduate?" he asked, in an attempt to take the attention off of him. 

Rinoa nodded and smiled brightly. "Oh yeah!" she said energetically. "I can't wait to graduate. I'm going to get to travel and do what I love." 

Squall seemed to cock his head to the side slightly. *She'd love being a mercenary?* 

"But I plan to do more things than that," she said. "I want to go into designing clothes or something like that." 

Squall nodded. *That's more like it,* "So do you plan on returning to Deling City?" 

"Probably," Rinoa shrugged. "But I always wanted to go to Esthar. My father never really let me, but I heard it's a beautiful place. Have you ever been there?" 

Squall's eyes darkened slightly, but he nodded. "Just a few times," he replied in a deep, solemn voice. "You're not missing much." 

The waitress came by and put their drinks in front of them. Rinoa thanked her and pulled her mug closer to her. She looked up from her drink, suddenly feeling that a dark cloud had suddenly loomed them. Squall seemed to stiffen and his eyes were no longer looking at her. 

*Think, Rinoa! Say something!* Rinoa took a sip from her mug and then put it back down. "So, how long have you known Quistis and Selphie and Zell?" 

"Quistis, Selphie, and Zell?" Squall asked. He looked back at her as she made a mental note never to mention Esthar to him again. He looked down at his steaming drink and thought for a moment. "We've known each other since we were children..." 

"Really?" Rinoa said in a light voice. "Quistis is one of my instructors and she introduced me to Selphie and Zell." 

Squall nodded. "How do you like them?" 

"They're great!" she replied enthusiastically. "Selphie is SO nice! And Zell is SO funny." 

*Funny...well, that's one way to describe, Zell...* Squall thought to himself, amused. "Are you enjoying the Garden?" 

Rinoa nodded. "It's different from my old school," she said. "I went to an all girls' private school in Deling City. But I like Balamb. It's very peaceful and calm here. It's different from Deling City, but I like it." 

"That's good," he replied. "May I ask you a question?" 

"Sure!" 

Squall looked away for a moment. He'd been wondering about something for a while and finally decided to ask her. "How long have you known Seifer?" 

Rinoa looked slightly surprised that he had asked her that question. The first words to come out of her mouth were, "He's not my boyfriend!" 

She looked so desperate to get him to believe her that he smiled once more. "Yes, you've told me that already." 

Rinoa blushed furiously and looked down. "Oh...I forgot..." 

"It's all right." 

"Uh..." Rinoa took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "He's...I guess...well, I've known him for a few years," *Should I tell him?* she thought to herself. She looked back up at him. Squall was paying attention intently and she hesitated telling him. What if he rejected her right then and there for it? After all, he did seem to dislike Seifer immensely. She shook her head. He would've found out sooner or later. "He's also my-" 

"Rinoa, what the hell are you doing here?" a deep male voice said from the stair well behind her. 

Rinoa's eyes went wide as she recognized exactly who that voice belonged to instantly. She mentally swore as she closed her eyes sighed. She turned her head around just as a pair of burning emerald eyes landed on her. "Seifer..." 

Squall sat up straight, suddenly giving off his cold and angry look as the tall blond approached their little table. "I've been looking all over for you," Seifer told the female brunette in an annoyed voice. "Why haven't you answered your phone!?" 

"I left it in my room," Rinoa explained casually. "What do you want, Seifer?" 

"I need to talk to you," he told her strongly. He turned and glared at Squall, who was shooting him the same angry look. "What the hell are you doing here?" 

"He asked me out for coffee," Rinoa said sternly as she stood up and frowned. She snapped her fingers in front of Seifer's face, forcing him to turn his attention back to her. "Okay, what is it? What do you need to talk to me about?" 

"Not here." 

"Can it wait?" Rinoa asked. "Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation with Squall?" 

Seifer jerked his head back and narrowed his eyes. "Squall?" he asked, almost disgusted. "He's just 'SQUALL' now?" 

Rinoa blushed as she narrowed her eyes. "Seifer, I don't have time for this!" she sighed. "What is it!?" 

"We're going back to the Garden," Seifer stated as he grabbed Rinoa's arm. "I have to talk to you about something." 

"What? Why!?" Rinoa gasped. She pulled back and Seifer turned to look at her. 

"Rinoa, stop being stubborn. C'mon," Seifer said. He gave her a stern look. "I need to talk to you." 

"Seifer-" 

"If she doesn't want to go, then don't force her." Squall said as he stood up off his chair. Rinoa looked over at him, noticing the darkened look in his face. 

"Squall-" Rinoa began. 

"Stay out of this Commander Puberty!" Seifer snapped. "This is none of your business!" 

"She IS my business-" Squall retroted, almost possessively. Rinoa blushed deeply. 

"Squall, it's okay," Rinoa said. Seifer let go of her arm and looked over at her, slightly surprised that she was intervening. She smiled at Squall warmly. "I'll deal with Seifer. Can I have a rain check on dinner?" 

Squall's icy blue eyes went from Seifer to Rinoa. She felt her heart freeze as she saw his cold eyes. Behind their crystal blue color was a look of hurt, as if he were asking her why she was siding with Seifer. He sat back down and turned his head. "Whatever." 

"Good, Rinoa, let's go-" Seifer began. Rinoa nodded and waved her hand at him. 

"I'll meet you downstairs," she told him, her eyes still on Squall. When she realized that Seifer wasn't moving, she turned to him with an annoyed glare. "I'll be there in a minute, okay? Just move!" 

Seifer let out a snort and cast one last glare at Squall before he turned and headed back down the stairs. "Fine...but I'll be back here if you're not there in a minute!" 

Rinoa nodded and made sure he was completely downstairs before turning back to Squall. "Squall, let me explain," she began as she walked over to Squall's side of the table and knelt down in front of him. She placed one hand on her lap and the other on his arm. "Listen, Seifer is a good friend of mine. He's an arrogant, self absorbed, jack ass, but he'd never hurt me." 

"Whatever..." Squall mumbled indifferently. Rinoa had a pained look in her eyes as she grabbed his hand and forced him to look at her. 

"We'll go out again, okay?" she told him with desperate brown eyes. "I'll pay next time." 

He turned his head away from her again and felt her let go of his hand. Rinoa stood up and studied him. "RINOA!" a voice shouted from downstairs. "The clock is ticking!!" 

She rolled her eyes and walked over to her chair. She grabbed his jacket, which had been hanging off the back of her chair. From the corner of his eye, he saw her lift the jacket up and put it on. He squinted and couldn't help but comment. "What are you doing?" 

"I'm wearing your jacket," she said stubbornly. She reached behind her neck and lifted her hair from underneath the jacket. She tugged it snuggly around herself and smiled as she looked back at him. "Just for a little bit, okay? I'll return it tomorrow. At your office." 

"Rinoa! Hurry your fat butt up!" Seifer shouted from downstairs. Rinoa mumbled something about how the patrons in the cafe were probably getting annoyed with him before she turned and headed down the stairs. 

"Remember!" she said with a smile as she waved at Squall. "Tomorrow at your office!" 

Squall merely watched her gown down the stairs, her dark hair topped head disappearing as she ran down the steps. He heard her yell at Seifer and then looked outside the window. Fujin and Raijin had been waiting outside by Seifer's car as Rinoa followed him outside, seemingly yelling at him as she did so. 

He was yelling back, but still opened the door for her to get into the car. She grabbed the door, saying she could get in by herself. Seifer yelled for the other two to get into the car before he headed for the driver's seat. 

Rinoa was about to sit down when she looked up and saw Squall looking down at her from the second floor of the cafe. She smiled and waved slightly. He was only able to lift up his hand before she got into the car and Seifer sped away. 

Inside the car, Rinoa turned to Seifer, glaring at him. "Don't even think about complaining," Seifer stated before she could even get a word in. "He's off limits to you." 

"You're not my boyfriend any more, Seifer!" Rinoa snapped. "You can't tell me who I can't see and who I can!" 

"You don't get it," he snapped back. "He's the Commander of the Garden. I don't know what the hell he's thinking, but he's not even supposed to be taking students out on dates." 

Rinoa blushed as she sat in the seat. "It wasn't a date! It was a friendly outing!" 

"Right," Seifer said. "Call it whatever you want, but don't get involved with him." 

"Why not!?" Rinoa demanded. 

"You're not a SeeD, Rinoa," Seifer stated simply. Fujin and Raijin sat in the back seat quietly, both sure they shouldn't add to the conversation. "You're not a cadet, you're just a student here. He's an administrator. You two are not supposed to get involved with each other." 

"Why?" she insisted once more. 

"If the Headmaster finds out, it won't be pretty," Seifer stated. He took a deep breath. "Rinoa, I care about you," he said, using a softer tone. "I just don't want to see you hurt. It's better you stop this now before it goes any further and you're forced apart." 

"So what if we're forced apart?" Rinoa retorted proudly. "We'll just get back together, that's all!" 

"And what if IT gets out?" Seifer snapped. Rinoa froze. She turned her head to him with narrowed eyes. 

"What do you mean?" 

"What if Squall finds out about it?" Seifer said. "Then what?" 

Rinoa's brown eyes looked down at her pale fingers. They were playing with each other and she closed her eyes tightly. "He won't find out." she insisted, as if trying to convince herself. 

Seifer shook his head. "Do you really think he'll be interested in you? When he finds out that you're a sorceress?" 

* * *

Squall was sitting at his desk. He had been there since six in the morning, doing paper work. He had been there so long, he had completed most of the work that had been scheduled to be done during the week. His eyes drifted to the clock on the wall. It was almost sunset. 

*Where is she?* he asked for the billionth time. He had gotten there early just in case she showed up early. He laughed at the thought now. It had been twelve hours and she had yet to show her face. 

He felt like a child being promised to be taken to a theme park only to have their hopes crushed by a parent who said they couldn't take them. Why had he believed that she would be there? After all, she had run out with Seifer. However, she had looked so sincere clinging to his arm, begging him to believe her. 

He leaned back on his big leather chair, listening to the music that came out of the radio in the shelf to the right of his office. Selphie insisted that he needed something to listen to since he was always cooped up in his office. So on his birthday, she had presented him with a simple, but nice radio. 

It was currently playing a pop song. It was a sort of sad ballad sang by a woman. She had a clear voice and he could feel the sadness and frustration in her voice. He tossed the pen he was holding on the table and stood up. He walked around his desk, grabbing his helmet which had been tossed on the seat in front of the desk. 

He checked to make sure his keys were in his pant pockets before he walked out the door, leaving the radio on. The clock on the radio blinked 6:14 PM as his door closed on his way to the stairs. 

* * *

Rinoa stepped out of the elevator, dressed in her usual black and blue clothes. Folded over in her arms was Squall's leather jacket. She had debated for most of the day after she woke up whether or not she should just leave it at the front of his door or not. What Seifer had told her the day before had scared her. 

In a world where sorceresses were known for their lustful hunger for magic and power, they were feared and hated. Numerous sorceresses had preceded her, almost all using their gifts to conquer and control an entire populace. As far as she knew, even sorceresses with the potential to gain that much power were locked away. They were a threat to society. 

She never asked for her gifts. Or punishment. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She just wanted to sing. To sing like her mother did. And her father had allowed her, providing she kept her magic hidden from the public. She was more than happy to. If the public found out that she was a sorceress, she would be sealed away like those before her. 

Her father's position of power was good enough to keep her secret hidden. Very few people knew about it and she intended to keep it that way. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Seifer had a point. If Squall found out that she was a sorceress, would he still be interested in her? She really liked him. 

Thoughts like that plagued her mind the entire night prior, disallowing her from falling asleep. As a result, she fell asleep early in the morning and slept in until about noon. She woke up with his jacket still wrapped tightly around her, like a safety blanket. Her eyes were downcast as she walked. She had come to the decision that she should distance herself from him to prevent any complications. The question was - would she be able to? 

She walked down the hall way until she reached Squall's office. She raised her hand to knock and stopped. 

The radio was on and she listened closely to the familiar lyrics. Her eyes went wide as she blushed, realizing it was one of her songs. She stepped back and slowly put her hand on the door knob. Shaking, she turned it and the door opened. 

She pushed the door open, hearing her voice all around her as she looked into the room. Rinoa turned her head from side to side, looking for an occupant, but found it empty. She walked deeper into the room, wondering if she should just leave the jacket on his chair and leave it at that. 

She walked around his desk and approached his chair. She glanced out the window. The sun had almost vanished through the horizon and she peeked outside, through the grayish-white blinds. Her eyes went wide as she saw Squall peel out of the parking lot and through the gates of the Garden. 

Her eyes went back to the radio, where red letters of it's digital clock flashed 6:16 PM, just as her song died. 

* * *

He could still hear the lyrics of the song in his head. That voice enchanted him to no end and he wondered who sang it. Even as he sped past the gates of the Garden to the parking lot, he wondered why that song had hit him so hard. It was sad, but also confused and obviously, still in love. 

*Hyne, I haven't even known her a few days...* he thought to himself as he parked his bike in his assigned space. He passed the space where he had first met her and remembered her soft features that had been illuminated gloriously by the moonlight. She seemed in awe of him as well as their eyes locked for the first time. 

As he parked his bike, he chided himself. If that was the case, why hadn't she come to his office like she said? He was bothered by that and secretly wondered if Seifer had anything to do with it. 

Seifer. Rinoa was about to tell him something about the blond gun blader when they were interrupted by the devil himself. *She was her what?* his mind asked. *Friend?* 

Seifer had grabbed her arm rather abruptly and he recalled the urge to stand up and take Rinoa away from him. But she held her ground, acting not nearly as helpless as he had imagined. She had a fire in her as she argued with Seifer and he admired that. And Seifer treated her in a different way. He had seen the way he talked to Quistis and while they argued, it was different from the way Seifer talked to Rinoa. 

It seemed almost fraternal. Regardless, her closeness to Seifer brothered him. Squall began to walk towards the Garden building and looked up. Was he jealous? Of what? As his eyes went up the building, he saw a light. He frowned as he recognized that the light was on in his office. 

Had he left the light on? He paused and thought for a moment. He was sure he hadn't, since the sun was barely setting when he left. *Idiot...you forgot to lock the door!* He mentally swore as he realized his mistake. He ran into the building, heading towards the elevators. 

It seemed like a lifetime before they finally reached him and opened. When they did, several cadets came out, all stopping in mid conversation to salute him as they stepped out. He merely nodded and got in after they piled out. 

He pressed the button and waited impatiently to get to the correct floor. As soon as the doors opened, he ran through and headed down the hall for his office. He could see the light up ahead and checked his watch. It was almost midnight. Curfew was in an hour. 

As he approached, he heard the music from his radio wafting into the halls. He could've sworn that he hadn't put the volume up that high when he was in the room. Squall, still holding his helmet in one hand, reached out with his other hand and grabbed the door knob. 

The door was pushed open and he stopped. 

In the soft white light of the lamp on his desk, the room was illuminated in a soft glow. The radio was on, playing the same song that had been stuck in his head the entire night. 

His blue eyes landed on the figure sitting on his chair. Her head lifted up sharply at the sound of the door opening. Her eyes went wide and she was unsure of what to say. 

Squall stared at her. Ever since they met, he couldn't get her out of his mind. She occupied his every thought. Slowly he walked into his office. The door closed behind him and he tossed his helmet on the seat in front of the desk as he passed it. 

Rinoa followed him cautiously with her eyes, suddenly extremely nervous. He carried an unfamiliar look in his face and she wasn't sure if he was angry or not. He seemed to stalk towards her and she turned the chair to face him as he rounded the desk and stood in front of her. 

"Squall-" she began. She jumped as his hands slammed down on the arm rests on either side of her. She felt her entire body go weak as she leaned back against the chair. 

Her heart was racing as she looked up reluctantly. She met his gaze and was unable to read it. Squall looked down at her, noticing how she her breathing had suddenly grown shallow and how her face had suddenly drained of all color. His face softened. 

Rinoa gave him a questioning look as he leaned down and lowered his head. Unconsciously, she leaned upwards, closing her eyes. Gently, soft lips were placed against hers, filling her body with warmth as she melted in the chair. 

The jacket fell from her arms on to her lap as her arms rose and wrapped around his neck. As his kisses became deeper and stronger, she abandoned all thoughts of forgetting about him. She couldn't do it. She couldn't just stop liking him. She decided that she wouldn't give up so easily. After all, while his jacket kept her nice and warm, his arms around her were a thousand times better. 


	3. Just Wait

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Three: Just Wait_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** I think I went overboard with the fluff. There is just not enough drama! Man, this story is progessing slowly...-_-;; Squall needs to be more angsty, he's too not Squall right now. But it kind of works for this story. Regardless, he needs more angst...anyway, Irvine finally makes his appearance here! But I'm not too happy with this chapter...anyway I was listening to Utada Hikaru's 'Eternally' for the dance scene, just in case you want to read this and feel REALLY mushy... 

* * *

"You finished all your paper work?" Xu asked as a stack of manila folders were placed on top of her desk. She looked up him with disbelief. "Are you all right, commander?" 

Squall narrowed his eyes. "Is there something strange about doing my work?" he asked, annoyed. Xu shook her head and took the files. 

"No! Of course not! Have a good day, commander!" Squall nodded his head once and headed down the hall to his office. 

He lifted his key and unlocked his door. He had almost forgotten to twice the night before. He froze as he opened his door. His blue eyes looked around the room. As usual, it was nice and neat. All his books were organized on his shelf. The files were all properly marked and labeled inside their cabinets. 

Not a single pencil or pen was out of it's holder. He hung his jacket on the coat rack by the door and stepped into the room. He walked around to his desk and sat down his chair. Immediately, his mind drifted to the young woman who had spent several hours waiting for him on that very chair. He leaned back against the chair and allowed his mind to go back to the night before. 

Rinoa had been sitting there, holding his jacket in her arms the moment he walked in. In the background, a song of longing played. Her soft earthen eyes looked up at him as he entered, filled with a mixture of relief and nervousness. He could still feel her soft, perfect lips against his as he kissed her. 

He had relished her warmth as his jacket fell on her lap. Her arms abandoning it for him. Her eyes were closed and he could smell the scent of her shampoo as she pulled him closer to her. He pulled her up into a standing position and pulled away from her. 

"I..." she began, her face flushing. Her eyes darted away from him as Squall's eyes studied her intently. 

"I thought you weren't coming." he mumbled unconsciously. She immediately looked back up at him with worried eyes. 

"Of course I was!" she gasped. "I just..." she trailed off. "I'm sorry I'm so late." 

"I'm the one who made you wait," he whispered softly. His hand rose and gently stroked her cheek. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his hand against her. Squall took a hesitant step back and drew his hands back at his side. "Thank you for returning my jacket." 

Rinoa nodded, still blushing uncontrollably. "You're...you're welcome," she stammered. "Uh...I better get back to my room. Curfew...yeah..." 

Squall nodded and stepped back to let her through. "Rinoa." he said before she reached the door. She froze half way there. Squall looked over at her. He opened his mouth slightly, but found that he didn't really know what to say. 

He watched as her shoulders seem to move up as she took a deep breath. She turned to him and smiled at him. "Um...when are you not busy?" she asked sheepishly. "We...we still have to go to dinner." 

Squall opened his eyes as the sound of knocking on his door and sat up straight. "Come in." he stated as seriously as possible as he began to open the folders that were on his desk. He looked up to see Quistis come in, holding a file in her arms. 

"I heard you finished your paper work early," she said with a slight smile. "Do you mind if I pile some more on you?" 

"What is it?" Squall asked. He eyed the folder as she placed it in front of him. 

"An academic student's file," Quistis said. "She requested that her information be changed. Because she's not a cadet and is only here for school, we need your signature to confirm it." 

Squall nodded and reached for a pen in the holder. He lifted it up a heavy black fountain pen and opened the beige file that was on his desk. Quistis stood in front of his desk, waiting for him to hand the folder back to her so she could turn it in. She glanced down to see if he had finished and found him staring at the file in an almost trance like state. 

"This student..." Squall said. "Are you sure they're not a cadet?" 

Quistis nodded. "Yes," she said with a look of worry. "Is something wrong, Squall?" 

"Rinoa Heartilly..." Squall mumbled. 

Quistis nodded once more. "Yes, her official documents say her name is Rinoa Caraway, but she's trying to establish herself as Rinoa Heartilly. I had most of her roll sheets changed when she first started, but she put in a request to change her name formally on the official documents," Quistis paused and looked at him worriedly. "Is there a problem?" 

"I could've sworn I've heard the name Rinoa Caraway before..." he mumbled absently as he reluctantly held his pen over the line he was supposed to sign. 

Quistis chuckled. "I wouldn't be surprised. She's quite famous." 

"What?" Squall asked. He looked up at Quistis. The blonde's eyes went wide. 

"You really don't know?" she asked. Squall looked slightly confused and she sighed. "I thought I was the only one who didn't know who she was...I'm glad I'm not." 

"Who is she?" Squall asked. 

"Rinoa is a singer," Quistis said. "She's also a model. I believe she and Seifer have the same manager." 

*That's how she knows Seifer...* Squall thought to himself, slightly relieved. He nodded. "What does she sing?" 

"Popular music," Quistis said. "If you want, I can tell Selphie and Zell. They seem to be big fans-" 

"No, no, that's fine..." Squall mumbled. He quickly wrote his name on the file and closed it. "I would prefer that this doesn't leak out." He stated sternly. 

Quistis took the file back and nodded. Immediately, he returned to his work and Quistis wondered if she should converse with him further or leave. When he didn't look back up, she took it as her cue to leave. As soon as the door closed, Squall looked up. 

He dropped the pen he was writing with on the table and turned to the computer at the corner of his desk. He turned it on and immediately went online. He typed in the name 'Rinoa Caraway'. 

His eyes went wide. She had hundreds of thousands of hits. She even had a dot com. He figured it was the best place to start and clicked on the link. Immediately, a window popped up that was black. Her name appeared in bold white letters from the darkness and then finally a picture of her behind it. 

He clicked on the link to enter. *She's a singer and clothing model? No wonder she said she would like what she did after she graduated. She's not becoming a SeeD - she's going to continue singing.* 

Squall let out a breath and clicked on some music videos that were archived on the site and froze as the melody hit his ears. It was the song he had listened to the day before. The one that was stuck in his head. No wonder he had felt so drawn to it. It was her voice! 

As he watched her image in the video, he suddenly felt somewhat betrayed. Why hadn't she told him that she was a famous singer? Then again, why hadn't he realized it earlier. Many people had been looking at them at the cafe they went to. His friends at the speedway even mentioned it. In a way, they had a point. Just how many women were out there named Rinoa? He lifted his hand off the mouse and leaned back on his chair. 

He had bigger things to deal with then her identity as an artist. For one thing, she wasn't a SeeD cadet. She was just a student. He was an administrator. That in itself was a huge problem. If she were a cadet, he could openly see her and not be stigmatized because she would one day become his comrade. 

That was the case, at least unofficially, with Quistis, an instructor, and Seifer, a cadet. But because Rinoa was just a plain student who was only at the Garden for school, she was off limits. At least until she graduated. 

He closed his eyes and ran his hands down his face. "Hello?" a quiet voice said from the door way. Squall lifted his hands off his face, immediately recognizing the voice. He turned his head and saw Rinoa walk in. 

She was dressed in the Garden's uniform and blushed as she stuck her head in from the door. "Rinoa," Squall said. He glanced at the clock on his computer. "What are you doing here? What about school?" 

"It...it just got out," Rinoa said. Squall sighed. How long had he been net surfing for information on Rinoa? "Am I bothering you?" 

"No," he told her. "Have a seat," he motioned for Rinoa to sit in the chair at the front of his desk. "How can I help you?" he asked formally. 

Rinoa sat down, unsure of what to say. She hadn't expected him to act so formal towards her. "I was just wondering when we could go out again," she said with a warm smile. "I promised to pay this time." 

*Oh, Hyne...why are you doing this to me?* Squall mentally thought. He looked down at his desk and took a deep breath. "Actually, Rinoa, I've just come into the fact that you're just a plain student and not a cadet." 

She tilted her head to the side slightly. "Yes..." she said. "Did you think I was a cadet?" 

"Most of the students are cadets," Squall explained. He looked up to meet her face. *Okay, you have to tell her that you can't see each other any more...at least until she graduates.* 

"Is there a problem with that?" she asked, noticing that Squall's face had taken on a harder look than normal. 

He took a deep breath. "I don't know how to say this," he mumbled. "But...as an administrator, I can't-" 

"See a student...right?" Rinoa asked, drawing the conclusions as her heart sank. She mentally swore - Seifer had been right. No wonder Squall was acting so formal to her. She looked down at her pale fingers. "I guess we won't be able to go out for dinner anytime soon then..." 

"I'm sorry, Rinoa," Squall said. *Okay, now tell her that you'll wait for her.* his mind urged. "But-" 

"Thank you for telling me," Rinoa said as she stood up suddenly. Squall looked up at her, unsure of how to react. "It's good that we drew that conclusion out before...you know...it got any further." 

"Rinoa," Squall began as he stood up. "Personally, I feel that the rule is unnecessary, but rules are rules." 

"Squall...I mean...Commander," Rinoa said, almost bitterly as she lifted her head to meet his gaze. "I guess Seifer was right...he'll have such a laugh when he hears-" 

"I'm sorry." he stated again. Rinoa shook her head. 

"Have a nice day, Commander." She turned around and quickly headed to the door. Squall stood there, unable to get his body or mouth to do or say anything. The door closed behind her. 

* * *

"Zell, are you going to the library again?" Selphie asked as she saw the blond walking across the hall from her. He froze in his spot and turned to look at her, blushing. 

"Uh...no?" he asked sheepishly. Quistis sighed as Selphie giggled. 

"Nice try, Zell, but the only room down that way is the library," Quistis told him. "I'm taking it that you're not there to study." 

"I bet the pig tailed girl is working, huh, Zell?" Selphie prodded with a smirk. The blond martial artist blushed furiously and nodded. "I knew it!" 

"Zell, I swear you're boardering on stalking her." Quistis sighed. 

"I am not!" he gushed. "I'm going there to study!" 

"Right..." Selphie said, giving him a wink. 

"Fine, we'll join you," Quistis said. "I have to correct some papers." 

Zell cursed his luck as the two young women followed behind him. He opened the door to let them in and then quickly looked for a spot where he could sit and 'study' while in good view of the young library worker. 

"Hey, it's Rinoa!" Selphie said in a cheerful, but quiet voice as she pointed to the girl sitting in the corner. She was hunched over a note book, candy bar in one hand and pen in the other. 

"What's she doing?" Quistis mumbled. 

"I'm going to go say hi!" Selphie said. 

"I'm going to get us a place to sit!" Zell said proudly. Quistis grabbed his collar before he could get any further. 

"I'LL get us a place to sit." she said with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Zell deflated. Meanwhile, Selphie wandered around the tables that lined the lobby and bottom floor of the library. She snuck up behind Rinoa. 

"Hey!" she said. 

The dark haired young woman jumped up off her seat and whirled around. Her eyes were huge and she was gasping for breath. "Oh, Selphie..." she gasped. "You surprised me..." 

"That was the idea!" Selphie said with a bright smile. She looked up at Rinoa and frowned slightly. The brown eyed girl's eyes were now red and puffy, as if she had been crying. "Rinoa...are you okay?" 

"I'm fine," Rinoa said with a smile. "I'm just tired, that's all." She sat back down in her chair and lifted her candy bar to her mouth. 

Selphie looked over her shoulder. "What are you writing?" she asked. Her eyes went wide. "Oh! Are you writing lyrics for your next song!?" 

Rinoa smiled and nodded slightly. "I'm just jotting down some words right now," she said. "Sometimes, I just write things down. You never know when you can make them into a song." 

"Can I see what you have so far?" Selphie asked. 

Rinoa reluctantly looked down at her light blue book, but nodded and handed it to Selphie. "It's not much right now. I just started writing it a few days ago." 

Selphie pulled up a chair and sat next to Rinoa. She read the lyrics. "It sounds sad..." Selphie said. "You wrote this today?" 

Rinoa nodded as she took back her book. "Part of it, yes...Kind of depressing, right?" 

Selphie nodded. "So you're not really fine are you?" Rinoa smiled and shook her head. 

"Even if I'm not now, I will be," Rinoa said. She looked back at her note book. "Hey, Selphie...is there some rule that a student can't...um...I guess date an instructor or administrator?" 

Selphie tilted her head to the side and thought for a moment. "No, there isn't..." she said. Rinoa's eyes went down. "Well, at least not for a SeeD Cadet to date an instructor. If they were a normal student, like yourself, it's not allowed." 

Rinoa's head lifted. *So he was telling the truth...* "Really? Why not?" 

"I believe it happened before," Selphie said. "And the parents of the student were very unhappy. So they instilled the rule." 

"Oh, I see..." Rinoa mumbled. Selphie smiled and gently elbowed Rinoa. 

"Why?" she asked. "Is there someone you like?" 

"Like?" Rinoa piped. 

"Yeah, me," a voice said. Rinoa let her head drop as two hands were placed on her shoulders. "Is she bothering you, Rin?" 

Rinoa let out a breath and stood up. "You're bothering me, Seifer." she grumbled. She pushed him away and walked past him. 

Seifer jerked his head back and shot a glare at Selphie. "What did you do to her?" 

"Don't ask me!" Selphie gasped as she jumped up off her seat and headed to where Quistis and Zell were sitting. Quistis had forced Zell to sit with his back to the library girl. He was now tearfully looking down at a book that she was making him read. "We were fine until you showed up." 

Seifer frowned and walked after Rinoa. She practically threw the doors open as she left the library. "Rinoa," he said as he went out after her. "Rin, what's wrong?" 

She kept walking, her hands turning to fists at her side. Seifer continued to call out to her and she whirled around. "You were right!" she shouted. Seifer stopped in his spot. She closed her eyes tightly and turned her head to the side. "You were right...it's not going to work out." 

The tall blond narrowed his eyes. "You talked to him?" Rinoa nodded. "You know it's for the best." 

"But it's not fair!" Rinoa gasped. "Why is that you can openly flirt with Quistis, but I can't even go out with Squall!?" 

Seifer shook his head. "I didn't make up the rules," he told her. "But it's a different story with SeeDs dating other SeeDs." 

"I don't care about that!" Rinoa snapped back. She ran one hand through her thick hair and shook her head. "Forget it! You wouldn't understand!" 

She whirled around and headed for the elevators to her room. Seifer shook his head. "She's so damn stubborn..." 

"Seifer." a voice said behind him. He turned around and saw Fujin and Raijin approaching. 

"What is it?" he asked the duo. Raijin lifted up a cellular phone. 

"It's General Caraway, ya know." 

* * *

Rinoa rounded the corner and ran into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry-" 

"Rinoa..." a solemn voice said, showing a hint of surprise. She looked up and felt her heart stop. Squall stood there and squinted his eyes. He seemed to want to say something, but nothing came out. 

"Sorry, Commander, I was just on my way to my room..." 

Squall looked around the vacant hall way and closed his eyes. Rinoa tried to make a run for it, but his hand slammed into the wall next to her head, stopping her from moving further. Her eyes went wide as she turned look at him. 

"I want to take you out to dinner." he whispered in a quiet voice. Rinoa strained to hear him. His head was down cast as he spoke. 

She looked around nervously. *Hyne, don't let him be joking...* She watched as his head tilted up to look at her. Crystal blue eyes looked back at her with unreadable emotion. Her heart raced as she tried to figure out what he was thinking. 

His subtle scent wrapped around her like a warm blanket, drawing her closer to him. Rinoa lifted up a shaking hand and cupped his left cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned against her hand. She could feel the slight stubble on his face as her fingers traced the outline of his jaw. 

Squall slowly felt her hand fall from his face and he opened his eyes. His breath had deepened slightly as his racing heart pounded in his chest. "Tomorrow night?" 

Rinoa nodded. "Where?" 

"Down the street from the cafe," he whispered in her ear quietly. "There's a restaurant without any windows. I'll be there at eight." 

Without another word, he pushed himself away from her and walked past her. Rinoa leaned against the wall, her heart still beating on over drive. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. "Rinoa!" a voice shouted around the corner. 

She turned her head to the side just as Seifer walked around the corner. He looked rather annoyed as he gave her a look of disapproval. "What is it?" she asked. *I hope my face isn't still red!* 

"Just making sure you're heading towards your room," Seifer said. He narrowed his eyes. "You look flushed." 

"I'm just tired," she stated nervously. She pushed herself off the wall and turned her back to Seifer. "I'm heading towards my room now, see?" 

Seifer kept his eyes on her as she walked towards the elevator. He could still hear her father's words in his head. _"It has come to my attention that the son of Laguna Loire attends that Garden. I want you to keep Rinoa away from him."_

Seifer punched the wall angrily as Fujin and Raijin approached him. Normally, had he been told to play baby sitter, he would've just laughed in that person's face. But he knew just how much power and political sway General Caraway had. Suddenly, the whole situation just seemed to double in severity. 

It was one thing to try to protect a friend's feelings from heart break, but it was another to be forced to keep her away from someone. "He doesn't know who Squall is, ya know," Raijin said. "As long as General Caraway doesn't find out, there won't be as much trouble, ya know." 

Seifer took a deep breath. "That's the problem with her father," Seifer mumbled. "He'll find out no matter what." 

* * *

Thousands of questions ran through Rinoa's head as she stood in front of her mirror, applying the last of her make up. She put the stick of lipstick down and looked at her reflection. Her hair was pulled back into an up do, leaving her bangs hanging over her head. 

She smiled, checking her smile. Diamond studs were in her ears as she straightened the silver chain and ring hanging off of it around her neck. She was wearing a simple black dress with two thin straps. It cut off at right above her knees. She wore black heels. 

Rinoa stepped back and looked over herself at the mirror once more. Satisfied that she looked perfect for Squall she looked over at the clock. It was seven fifty. She grabbed her small black purse that had been pre-packed and resting on her bed. She had her phone, her wallet, and car keys inside. 

She walked towards her door and allowed it to slide open. She stuck her head out into the hall and made sure it was empty. By now, she had picked up the general pattern of the Garden. Tonight was a study night. There were to be numerous tests the next day and so all the students were cramming. 

Grinning, she snuck out of her room. The halls were quiet and she occasionally heard the sounds of music pounding from another student's room as she passed by. It amazed her how some people were able to study while listening to banging music. She herself had gone straight to the library after school and after a brief talk with Zell, who was there also 'studying', she went right to her studies. 

She felt prepared for Quistis' test the next day as she headed towards the elevators. She pushed the button to go downstairs. As she waited for the elevator to arrive, she rummaged through her purse to dig out her keys. 

"Where are you going?" a voice said. 

Rinoa froze as she looked up. The elevator doors opened and there stood Seifer. He frowned as she looked up. "Out." she stated. 

"Don't you have to study?" he asked incredulously. 

Rinoa frowned as he stepped out of the elevator. "For your information, I studied! Unlike you, I plan to only take Quistis' class ONCE while I'm here." 

Seifer rolled his eyes. "You didn't answer the first question." 

"I did, too! I'm going out! I was cooped up all day studying!" Rinoa retorted proudly. "I need to go out! Be with REAL people." 

Seifer raised an eye brow and nodded. "All right." 

"Thank you." Rinoa said, about to walk into the elevator. 

"Give me a second and I'll come with you." Rinoa's eyes went wide and flew up to meet his green ones. 

"What?" she gasped. "WHY?" 

"It's not safe for you to be wandering around the streets of Balamb alone at night." he stated casually. 

"You had no problem with that the night your car was towed!" Rinoa retorted. "No way I'm going to spend another night with you! You're bad luck!" 

"Fine, then I'll get Fujin or Raijin." Seifer told her smoothly. 

*Crap, crap, crap! Think, Rinoa! THINK!* 

"Seifer, there you are," another voice said. Rinoa closed her eyes and mouthed. 'thank Hyne' before turning her head. She smiled from ear to ear as she saw Quistis approaching. "Cid asked me to go over the Disciplinary Committee's new schedule for the up coming semester with you." 

Seifer frowned. *I can't let Rinoa go out...she might be going to meet HIM...* he thought, partially disgusted. "I-" 

"Hey, Quistis!" Rinoa said with a smile. "You'll be glad to hear that I'm all prepared for your test tomorrow!" 

Quistis smiled. "Then I'll make yours more difficult," she said with a smile. Rinoa wrinkled her nose. "Are you going to town tonight?" 

"I've been studying all day. I figured a night out is well deserved." Rinoa replied. 

"Just don't come back drunk and over sleep my class," Quistis replied. "Have a good time." 

"Thank you!" Rinoa said. She stepped into the elevator and quickly pressed the 'door close' button before Seifer could protest. The doors slid closed and she waved. 

Quistis looked up at Seifer, who looked extremely frustrated. "Now what?" she sighed. 

"She can't go into town by herself!" Seifer snapped. 

"Why not?" Quistis asked. Seifer opened his mouth to answer, but realized that whatever answer he gave, she probably wouldn't agree. Not to mention that he couldn't tell her that General Caraway had told him to keep Rinoa away from Squall under penalty of releasing his record in Galbadia. 

He suddenly cursed the summer he had spent there, when he first met Rinoa. He had gotten careless and got into some car accidents, all while driving under the influence. Then he had gotten into several fights with some children of influential Galbadian leaders. 

At the time, he had been seeing Rinoa and a week before she dumped him, or in his point of view 'had a mutual break up', General Caraway had agreed to keep his record clean in exchange for keeping Rinoa's secret. 

He had agreed, seeing as how his record could destroy his dream of rising as a SeeD. Seifer mentally swore. The man would keep waving his record in his face if he didn't do what he said. *No wonder he and Rinoa always fought...* 

"Seifer?" Quistis said. He snapped back into attention and looked at the neat blond female in front of him. She lifted up a manila envelope. "Snap out of it. We have to get the schedule fixed." 

Seifer nodded. *As long as Caraway doesn't find out. Everything will be fine,* Smirking he walked closer to Quistis and put his arm around her shoulders. "No need to use that as a pretense," he smirked. "Your room or mine?" 

Quistis rolled her eyes. "Get your hand off my shoulder." she snapped. 

"With pleasure," Seifer continued to smirk as his arm lifted off her shoulder and slid down to her slim waist. "I like it better here anyway." 

* * *

Rinoa backed her car out of her parking space and looked at the clock on her radio. *Stupid Seifer...now I'm going to be late!* she thought to herself as she headed out onto the lone road that lead to the town. 

She turned up her radio and began to sing to the song on the radio. Suddenly, she began to wonder if she was over dressed. She glanced down at the black dress she was wearing. 

Squall had only said it was a restaurant. He never said if there was a dress code. For all she knew, it was a diner. She winced, realizing that she probably was over dressed. She didn't want to ask any one what kind of restaurant it was for fear of raising suspicion. 

By the time she reached the town, she had decided that she wasn't dressed for the restaurant, she was dressed for Squall. She wanted him to see her at her best. As she parked her car in the lot by the restaurant without any windows, she wondered what Squall was going to tell her when she arrived. 

Perhaps he did want to see her and would just say 'screw the system' and publicly announce that he loved her. *No...that's not going to happen...* she reminded herself. She sighed and got out of her car. 

Clutching her purse against her, she headed for the entrance of the restaurant. She knew that there was no way that Squall could publicly announce that he liked her. Suddenly, the thought rose in her head. What if he didn't like her and just wanted to pay her back? 

What if this whole thing was to make up for almost hitting her with his motorcycle? She then reminded herself of the kiss they shared a few nights before. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would just go around randomly kissing people. She figured that he would only do so to someone who he deemed worthy. 

*Hyne, I hope I'm worthy...* she thought to herself as the door was opened to her by a bouncer. Rinoa stepped into the room and stopped. 

The restaurant was dark and true to what Squall had said, there were no windows. The room was dimly lit and from where she was standing, she could see that the tables went down in descending tiers to a relatively large open space surrounded by tables. 

There was a dance floor in the middle and dim lights focused on the area as a series of ballads was played by a small orchestra in the corner. On the three descending tiers before the floor were tables within booths. On every table was short, fat red candles. The only other sources were light were the lights inlaid into the floor, by the isles to make sure no one tripped and the dim art deco style wall lamps and chandelier. 

The entire room was decorated in dark red and black with gold trim. "Can I help you, miss?" a friendly voice said to her left. 

Rinoa turned her head and smiled at the hostess. "Yes, I'm looking for a... friend," she said, blushing. She mentally debated if she should tell the hostess his name or describe him. Deciding that he might have used his real name in order to protect them both, she decided to describe him. "He's a few inches taller than me with straight brown hair and blue eyes-" 

"Ah...say no more," the hostess said with a smile. "He's been waiting for you," she said. "Follow me." 

Rinoa nodded and followed the woman. She was dressed in a black suit with a dark red shirt underneath a black vest. Her light hair had been tied into a tight bun and Rinoa realized that the waiters and waitresses all dressed the in the same fashion. 

As she went down one of the aisle and down the tiers of booths, she realized that the restaurant was probably relatively high class. The women were all dressed in beautiful evening gowns and the men were dressed in perfectly pressed suits. 

Rinoa's heart quickened speed as she wondered what Squall would be wearing. She turned her head and looked over to where the hostess was leading her. She smiled as she directed her to a corner booth in the bottom tier. She hadn't even seen it. 

Her eyes went to the young man who stood up as she approached. They widened as she laid eyes on him. Squall was wearing a black suit with a white buttoned up shirt underneath. He wasn't wearing a tie, but it worked very well for him. 

"I'm glad you made it." he said as he moved aside and ushered her into the booth. 

Rinoa nodded dumbly as she took her seat and scooted into the booth. Blushing she tore her eyes away from Squall as he took his seat next to her. "I'm sorry I'm late," she told him. "I was held up." 

Squall nodded. "You look...amazing..." he said quietly. Rinoa blushed even more and smiled. 

"Thank you," she said. "You look great. The suit really works for you." Squall chuckled and reached for her hand. 

"Rinoa-" he began, but a shadow loomed over them. He looked up. 

"I'm sorry to bother you," a waitress said with a warm smile. "But may I ask you if you're ready to order?" 

"Oh!" Rinoa gasped. She pulled her hand away from Squall's and lifted up the menu that had been placed on the table. "I completely forgot!" 

"I can come back, miss-" the waitress offered, noticing Squall's displeased look. 

"No, no," Rinoa stammered. "I'll just have the salad for starters and then the...um...this." She pointed to what she wanted on the menu. 

Squall watched as Rinoa nervously fingered the menu. When the waitress turned to him, he told her what he wanted. "I'll just have the prime rib. No appetizer. And the house red wine." 

"Yes, sir." the waitress nodded and took their menus. She scrambled away and Squall turned his attention back to Rinoa. Her eyes were looking towards the dance floor. He noticed her fingers tapping the table to the rhythm of the music. 

*Does she want to dance...?* he asked himself. He looked over to the dance floor reluctantly. He took a deep breath. He knew full well he wasn't the best dancer in the world. To make things worse, he knew Rinoa could dance. He'd seen her music videos. 

"Squall?" Rinoa asked. She turned her head to look at him and smiled. "Will you dance with me?" 

Squall felt himself nod and scoot out of the booth. Rinoa followed behind him and took his hand. They walked down the final steps to the dance floor and went past the tables on the floor. The orchestra and piano began to play another ballad as Rinoa lead him to the inner folds of the dance floor. 

She put his hand on her waist as she took his other hand in hers. Her other hand rested on his shoulder. She looked up at him and offered him an encouraging smile. They began to dance slowly in a circle. Each step they took went along with the music as they swayed to the music amongst the other couples. 

Rinoa took a step closer and held her breath as she placed her head against his shoulder. She closed her eyes as she felt his head rest against hers comfortably. She let out her breath and smiled contentedly. Against her breast, she could feel his heart beating just as quickly as hers. 

Squall relished the feeling of her body against his. Her soft dark tresses were like silk against his cheek. He could smell the fresh clean scent of her perfume as they danced. Her land let go of his and went around his neck, resting on his shoulder. Unconsciously, he stroked her hair with his free hand before it dropped down to her waist. 

Rinoa put her head under the crook of his neck and he leaned his head against hers. He could feel her warm breath against his skin as she closed her eyes. "Rinoa..." he whispered softly through the music. *I'm in love with you...* he thought to himself. 

Rinoa could barely breath as her heart raced at the sound of her name escaping his lips. *I want to be here forever...* she thought to herself as danced with him. Her heart was beating uncontrollably, but she never felt so relaxed. It was a euphoric feeling she'd never experienced before. 

Squall didn't want to say anything. He wanted to tell her that he wanted to continue seeing her, despite the Garden rules, but didn't know how to tell her. He was afraid that if he said anything the moment would be ruined. As her hold around him tightened, he decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being. It was just good enough for him right now to hold her. 

To feel her against him, safe and warm, was good enough for the time being. It shocked him to realize just how much he cared for a woman just meet a few weeks ago. Before they realized it, the song had ended and reluctantly, Squall pulled away from her. She looked up in confusion and found him looking towards their booth. 

"The food is here." he told her simply. Rinoa nodded and took his hand as he lead her back to their seat. She felt his fingers wrap around her hand comfortingly and squeezed her gently. 

They reached their seats and Rinoa looked up at him. She slowly began to eat her salad. "I guess this is our last meal together..." she said quietly. 

Squall froze while in the middle of eating a bread stick. He turned to look at her. "I'm well aware of the rules," Squall said. "And as a commander, I am bound to them." 

"I understand." Rinoa agreed softly. 

"When do you plan on graduating?" he asked. 

Rinoa looked up at him. "In a year..." she replied. Squall nodded. "Why?" 

He lifted his eyes to look at her. "In a year, you won't be a student any more." he replied. Rinoa raised her eyes back up at him slowly as it dawned on her what he was trying to say. 

"Do you mean it?" she asked. 

"Rinoa..." Squall began. He couldn't find the words to express his thoughts and the sounds died at his throat. He looked directly at her. She looked expectant. He lifted his hand and stroked her face gently. 

Rinoa felt herself being drawn into his beautiful eyes once again as she leaned forward. She felt her entire body burn as his lips touched hers once more. She closed her eyes and parted her lips for him as he pulled her closer. For a moment, she knew exactly how he felt. 

As the warmth coursed down her body, her arms went around his neck once more and pulled him down towards her. Slowly he pulled away from her, slightly out of breath as their foreheads touched. Her face was still cupped in his warm hands. Rinoa sniffled slightly and kept her eyes closed. She was afraid that if she opened them, he wouldn't be there and that it was all a dream. 

"What are we going to do until then?" she asked quietly. 

"Just wait..." Squall answered, not knowing what else to say. "Just for a while..." 

Rinoa nodded. "I understand..." He pulled away from her and lifted her face to look into his. *I don't know why...I don't even care to know why I love you so much...* 

"I'll be waiting for you," Squall whispered softly. "As long as it takes." 

* * *

"Table for one." said the tall man in the leather jacket and the cowboy hat. He winked at the hostess who blushed and nodded. 

"Right this way sir." she said as she lead him to one of the booths on the top tier. 

"Thank you," he said with a sexy smile as he was seated. "Always a pleasure to be seated by a pretty lady." 

The woman handed him the menu and walked away, blushing the entire time. He watched her leave and then lifted up the menu. Just as he did, he caught sight of a familiar young woman sitting a booth two tiers below in. They were hidden away in the corner and had he not been sitting that that particular part of his booth, he would've never see her. 

She was facing a good looking young man who lifted his hand, almost hesitantly, and stroked her cheek. The cowboy frowned. *Rin...what are you getting yourself into...?* Then the man across from Rinoa leaned forward and kissed her. To make things worse, Rinoa was leaning up and even put her arms around him. 

The cowboy's mouth dropped. *Oh, Hyne...* 

* * *

"He's sending WHO?" Seifer growled as he looked up from his breakfast. Raijin and Fujin were standing there nervously. 

"He was transferred earlier this week, ya know," Raijin said. "We didn't find out until recently, ya know." 

"He's got to be kidding me!" Seifer grumbled and stood up, abandoning his food as he walked out of the cafeteria. He headed out into the main hall. He had just gotten word that Rinoa's father had sent over someone else to make sure that Rinoa was well protected in Balamb Garden. 

It bothered him that someone thought he was incompetent. Especially when the one being sent was someone Rinoa was also close with and knew her secret. As the trio walked down the hall, they began to hear whispers amongst the female students. 

"He's really cute! He was wearing a cowboy hat and was so tall!" one student gushed to her friends. 

"Really? Oh, I wish I had been there to see!" another replied. 

"I heard he transferred from Galbadia Garden." 

"Oh...from Galbadia!?" 

Seifer was almost grinding his teeth together as he neared the front of the school. His emerald eyes landed on the tall young man leaning against the wall, a sensual smile playing at his lips as his usual black cowboy hat went over his head. He put out an aura that screamed playboy and flirt, but that didn't seem to stop the female students from giggling as he winked at them. 

Seifer narrowed his eyes. There stood his other coworker. The only other person besides him and Rinoa who had their manager. The man who Rinoa considered her best male friend. "Kinneas..." he hissed. 

The cowboy looked up, as if having heard his name from such a far distance. Suddenly, Seifer someone squeal behind him. He winced, knowing what it meant. A flash of dark colors whipped past him as Rinoa, clad in her uniform, ran through the halls with her arms open. "IRVINE!!" she shouted joyously. 

"Princess!" the cowboy laughed as he stood up straight and awaited her with open arms. 

"Okay?" Fujin asked Seifer, who was glaring at Irvine. He hated the gunslinger's flirty, all to laid back attitude. 

"I'm FINE..." 

* * *

Squall was walking up the hall way, intent on grabbing something to eat at the cafeteria before heading back to his office after a long session at the training room. As he walked, he heard the students talking about a new student who had arrived from Galbadia. 

His mind went to two things. The first was the Galbadia 14 race. That was quickly replaced by Rinoa, who was a Galbadian native. He could still taste her lips against his as he turned the corner. 

"IRVINE!!" he heard a familiar voice shout. He looked up and froze. Rinoa rammed straight into a tall cowboy who laughed as he put his arms around Rinoa. Jealousy bubbled inside of Squall as he watched the cowboy spin her around once and hug her tightly. 

"How ya doing, princess?" he heard the cowboy ask. 

Rinoa looked up at him, a bright smile on her beautiful face as she told him she was fine. Then, to his horror, Rinoa reached up and kissed his cheek. Squall's eyes went wide as a feeling of betrayal washed over him. He stood there for some time before willing himself to move back around the corner. 

He leaned against the wall, still in shock at what he just saw. *Rinoa...* he thought to himself. His eyes narrowed and he slammed his fist against the wall. The students who were around him jumped as the seemingly furious commander hit the wall. He turned and headed back down the hall. 


	4. No One Else

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Four: No One Else_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note: **Sorry, I've had a busy week and my weekend is kind of busy, too. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. It's progressing painfully slow, I know. Please bare with me! 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"Squall?" She knocked on the door and frowned. She checked her watch once more and narrowed her eyes. He should've been there. It was a Friday afternoon and she figured that he would still be at his office at that time. 

"Rinoa?" a voice said behind her. She turned around and smiled. 

"Hi, Quistis!" she said with a bright smile. 

The blond smiled and walked over to her. "What are you doing here? Did you need help with anything?" Quistis asked. Rinoa blushed slightly and shook her head. 

"I just came to ask Squ...er...the Commander a question." Rinoa said. Quistis nodded. 

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but he took a day of leave today," Quistis said. She sighed tiredly and shook her head. "I don't know why. He usually doesn't, so I'm kind of worried." 

Rinoa had a concerned look on her face. "Do you know why? Is he sick?" she asked. Quistis shrugged. 

"I don't believe so," she said. "At this morning's faculty meeting, he was fine. I don't know what happened, but around lunch, he told Xu that he needed some time off and then left." 

"Will he get in trouble?" Rinoa asked. 

"I don't think so," Quistis mused. "He's high ranking for the Garden and he's never taken a day of leave so abruptly. I'm assuming it's because he had an emergency at the speedway." 

"Oh..." Rinoa whispered. She looked down at the floor and nodded. "I see. Okay, then. Thanks, Quistis!" 

"It's not a problem," the blond replied. Rinoa began to walk away from the door, but Quistis called her back. "Rinoa, did you need a question answered? I might be able to help." 

Rinoa just smiled and shook her head. "Thank you, Quistis, but I don't think it's a question you could answer." 

* * *

The empty hallway rung with the sound of a body being shoved against the wall. A pale hand grabbed the wooly collar of the cowboy's long leather trench coat as he was shoved against the wall. His head tilted to the side, looking away from the furious green eyed blond that was glaring at him. He remained passive, knowing that if he struggled, it would only get worse. Besides, he was a lover, not a fighter. 

"What the hell are you doing here, Kinneas?" Seifer hissed as he glared at the cowboy. 

"I'm just visiting, Rin," Irvine replied casually. "Do you mind letting me go? I told you before, I'm not into being touched by men." 

Seifer let out a growl as he shoved Irvine against the wall once more before taking his hand away. "HE sent you, didn't he?" Seifer demanded. "He doesn't trust me looking out for her so he sent your ass here!" 

"Relax," Irvine stated. "I'm just a safety pre-caution. I'm not replacing you or anything." 

"A safety pre-caution for WHAT?" Seifer hissed. 

Irvine straightened his jacket and stood up straight, facing Seifer as they stood alone in the halls. "He knows about President Loire's son," Irvine stated simply. "He sent me to make sure that Rinoa is staying away from him." 

"She IS staying away from him," Seifer snapped back. "She can't be with him anyway. It's the Garden's policy." 

Irvine grinned and tipped his hat at Seifer. "Is that what you think? Really, I thought you'd be more attentive to our little Rinny. Especially concerning the matter of her boyfriends." 

Seifer's green eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" 

"I arrived last night," Irvine said casually. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "I decided to go to this restaurant for dinner and who do I see sitting there with some man - Rinoa." 

Seifer let out a growl as he punched the wall. "That little..." he grit his teeth and glared at the hole in the wall that he had created. "I knew I shouldn't have let her go into town by herself." 

"I've never seen Rinoa so...touchy with a man like that," Irvine said thoughtfully, as if mocking Seifer. "She had her arms all around him and-" 

"Shit!" Seifer growled. "Don't you know what this means, Kinneas? If they're caught, Rinoa's going to get her skinny behind kicked out of the Garden. The incident will be reported to her father. And her father will be PISSED." 

"So?" Irvine shrugged. "Her father won't be happy, but as long as it's not Loire's son, he won't kill you. Now if it WAS Loire's son...uh...I don't know his name...anyway, your ass would be served to Caraway on a silver platter." 

Seifer looked at Irvine as if he were completely stupid. "How'd he look like?" 

"I don't know," Irvine replied. "It was dark-" 

"TELL ME." Seifer demanded. 

Irvine sighed. "I don't know...he looked to be probably shorter than us...dark brown hair... I couldn't see his eyes but his hair was short and had bangs over his eyes." 

Seifer swore. "That's him," he stated. "I don't know how it happened, but Rinoa's infatuated with him." 

"Whose HIM?" Irvine asked. "What's his name?" 

"Squall Leonhart," Seifer said in a disgusted voice. "He's the-" 

"Commander of the Garden, right?" Irvine said. He nodded. "I read about him...it was something important..." 

Seifer rolled his eyes. "He's Loire's son." 

"What?" Irvine asked, confused. "But the name-" 

"He took his mother's maiden name," Seifer replied quickly. "But that's him." 

Irvine's eyes went wide. "Damn...the General will be pissed-" 

Suddenly a gunblade was to his throat and Irvine's eyes slowly turned back to the burning green eyes of Seifer. "The General won't find out..." he hissed. 

"Seifer!" a voice gasped. Irvine's eyes rose up and he let out a sigh of relief as he saw Rinoa running down the hallway with Quistis behind her, clutching folders to her chest. "Seifer, what are you doing!?" 

Grumbling, the blond male withdrew his gunblade. Rinoa reached them and pulled Seifer away. She reached up and checked Irvine's neck for any damage and was relieved to find none. She immediately turned to Seifer. 

"Don't even start with me," Seifer hissed. "You LIED to me." 

Rinoa's eyes went wide and she shook her head. "I didn't lie to you! What are you talking about!?" 

"Last night," Seifer snapped. He looked up, noticing Quistis approaching. He cast one last disapproving look at Rinoa. "We'll talk about this later." 

"What's going on?" Quistis said as she adjusted her glasses on her nose and looked at the three people. She had seen all three of their faces somewhere before, but she couldn't remember exactly where. 

"Seifer and Irvine were just having another argument," Rinoa sighed. She looked at Seifer and gave him an annoyed glare before turning to Quistis with a smile. "Sorry...they're always at each other's throats...literally." 

Quistis looked at Irvine and then at Seifer. "Seifer, what did you do?" 

"ME!?" he gasped, half surprised and half disgusted that he would even be asked that question. 

"Well, who else would start this!?" Quistis demanded. 

Before Seifer could answer, Irvine swept between them and took Quistis' hand. "I'm so sorry," he said in a deep, sensual voice. "Firstly for disobeying Garden rules and now for not knowing your name." 

Rinoa slapped her forehead and ran her hand down her face. *Hyne, he says the corniest things...* 

Quistis couldn't help but blush at Irvine's charming grin. "Quistis Trepe." 

"Quistis Trepe, the instructor?" Irvine gasped, pretending to be surprised. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. The students were all talking about their wonderful instructor. I couldn't wait to meet you." 

Quistis nodded. "Thank you," she said with a shy smile. Seifer's mouth nearly dropped at the sight. Slowly, his blood was beginning to boil once more. "Are you a friend of Rinoa's?" 

"Ah, yes," Irvine said, still holding on to Quistis' hand despite Seifer's burning glare. "I work with these two." 

"You're a model!" Quistis gasped at the sudden realization. *No wonder...three good looking people...I've probably seen them in magazines.* 

"Here's my card," Irvine said, handing her a small black piece of paper with white letters. "Give me a call," he winked. "You have model potential all over you. I'd like to be as well." 

"Oh, Hyne..." Rinoa mumbled, embarrassed. 

"Kinneas..." Seifer hissed out in a dangerously low voice. Rinoa glanced over at the blond male who was shaking. He seemed ready to shoot Irvine. 

"Thank you...Irvine." Quistis said looking at his card. She put it into her pocket and Seifer finally lost it. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Seifer growled at Irvine. 

"Just complimenting the pretty lady." Irvine said with a smirk. Rinoa groaned. 

"Every time we're together..." she murmured. She grabbed Irvine's hand began to pull him away. "Hey! I want you to meet some other friends of mine, okay, Irvine? Let's go!" 

"Sure thing, princess," Irvine said with a smile. He looked over his shoulder at Quistis and winked once more. "Call me!" 

As they vanished around the corner, Quistis chuckled and looked over at Seifer. The tall blond was seething with jealousy and Quistis couldn't help but smirk. She quickly wiped the look off her face as he turned to her. "Don't get yourself involve with that-" 

"You could learn a thing or two from him," Quistis said as she walked past Seifer. The young man's mouth was still open in mid sentence as Quistis passed. "It would be nice to be complimented once in a while." 

"I do compliment you!" Seifer snapped as he followed behind her. 

Quistis rolled her eyes. "Seifer," she stated coolly. "I'm going to tell you for the last time. I don't find being told that I have a nice rack is a compliment." 

* * *

The motorcycle roared and passed the finish line. The sensors calculated the time and large yellow numbers flashed on the sign boards. From the pit, three men let out a whistles and shook their heads. The black and dark blue motorcycle turned into the pit and screeched to a skidding halt in front of them. 

Immediately, the kick stand was up and the rider violently got off, nearly tearing off the helmet on his head as he stalked towards the three blondes. Tidus elbowed Cloud. 

"He looks pissed." he whispered. 

Cloud rolled his eyes. "We've been telling you that since he got here," he mumbled. He stood up and approached the seething brunette with caution. "Squall, what's wrong? You're not yourself out there today." 

"I'm fine." Squall snapped as he passed by them. He was heading towards the cooler. Zidane was sitting on it and quickly jumped up and opened the top just as Squall reached him. 

"Your times are lower than usual," Zidane mentioned. "We're kind of worried." 

"You'll never win the G-14 with those times." Tidus added. 

Squall was gulping down some water. He slammed it on the nearest table, sending water over the table and the his leather gloved hand. "I know that!" 

"Then what's wrong?" Cloud persisted. He was the oldest member of the group, having been the one to teach the other three riding in the first place. 

"Nothing!" Squall growled. The other three took steps back nervously. 

Tidus studied Squall and nodded. "Girl troubles." he concluded. Cloud ran his hand down his face. He had known that the whole time but knew that Squall didn't want to talk about it. 

The blue eyed brunette's eyes glazed over as he looked away. Zidane nodded. "So it is a girl." 

"I knew it!" Tidus said, beaming proudly. "Why else would a guy be so out of it if it weren't for a girl!" 

"Will you shut up, Tidus?" Squall hissed. Tidus backed down immediately, looking hurt. "I don't want to talk about it, all right!" 

Cloud stepped in, pulling the other two away from Squall. "Squall, we're just worried," the eldest said. "No need to yell at us." Squall leaned over the work bench where he had slammed his drink. 

His hands were gripping the edge tightly as he looked down, his shoulders hunched over. He took deep breaths to calm himself. Ever since earlier that day when he saw Rinoa run over and hug that cowboy dressed man, he'd been in a bad mood. He immediately took the day off, knowing he couldn't concentrate on his work after seeing that. 

He decided to work off some steam at the speed way, but found it problematic. With his mind resting else where, he couldn't concentrate and was doing simple mistakes. He was turning too early or even at times, just plain slower. 

Cloud had been there with Tidus when he arrived. They were eager to watch him take on the asphalt track, but were disturbed to watch him make such novice errors. Cloud had been the one to realize that something was wrong when Squall first entered and was considering not letting him ride. 

He knew what could happen to racers if they weren't concentrating. But Squall had insisted and so he let him. Zidane arrived just as Squall's first time was revealed and said that the racer sucked. He was shocked to find out that it was Squall. 

"I'm just not having the best day..." Squall murmured. 

"Squall, as your friend, I'm going to tell you to go home," Cloud told him. He put a hand on Squall's shoulder. "You're in no position to drive in your state of mind." 

"Hey, I drove Dagger's car today," Zidane said. "I can give you a lift-" 

"No, I'll drive home," Squall cut him off. There was no way he was leaving his bike there. He also didn't want to have to spend an almost hour long ride with Zidane in Zidane's girlfriend's car. "I'll see you tomorrow." 

He pushed himself away from the desk and headed towards the locker rooms. "Squall," Cloud shouted as the other man sulked away. "If you're still like this tomorrow, I'm not going to let you ride." 

Squall froze in his steps. His hand gripped his helmet tightly. Without another word, he continued out. Tidus and Zidane looked over at Cloud. "Are you sure that was a wise thing to say?" Tidus asked. "He's really pissed now." 

Cloud sighed. "It's for his own good." 

Inside the locker room, Squall threw his helmet into his locker and took a deep breath as he leaned against it. His racing helmet tumbled to the ground and he closed his eyes. Every time they closed all he could see was Rinoa hugging that OTHER man. Her arms were thrown around him and she even kissed him. 

*Who the hell is he?* Squall thought angrily. *He couldn't have been her...dammit!* 

A hundred possibilities ran through his mind with the cowboy being everything from Rinoa's brother, to her brother-in-law, to her best gay friend. Hyne, how he hoped he was one of those. 

He took another deep breath and opened his eyes. He began to change out of his uniform. As he unzipped the front of it, the doors opened. "Squall!" Zidane called out. "You have a call from Garden!" 

Grumbling, the brunette walked around the corner, his uniform falling around his waist under his white shirt. He took the phone from Zidane. "I'll bring it to the front before I leave." 

"Thanks!" Zidane replied. He left the locker room and Squall lifted the phone to his ear. 

"SQUALL!" 

Squall winced. That hyperactive voice... "What is it, Selphie?" 

"Are you busy!?" 

"I just finished some trials-" 

"Good!" she said, cutting him off. "Come straight to _Siren's_! Everyone is here!" 

Squall rolled his eyes. He wasn't much the clubbing type and he'd only go to them when he was forced to by the others. "What do you mean everyone is there?" *It's party night...the clubs will be full.* 

"Quistis, Zell, and I are taking out our new friend!" Selphie announced proudly. "He just arrived today!" 

Squall narrowed his eyes. "Who." he demanded, rather than asked. 

"Irvy!" Selphie shouted energetically. "He's another model that works with Rinoa and Seifer and he came by to visit so we're going to show him so Balamb hospitality!" 

Squall slowly mulled over the situation. Finally, he came to the conclusion. "I'll be there." 

* * *

"Rin! C'mon, loosen up!" Irvine said as he put his arm around her slim shoulders. "We're here to relax!" 

"I am relaxed!" Rinoa retorted as she looked up. She was sitting in the booth in the corner of the club drinking a weak drink when Irvine rushed up to her. 

"You're hiding from us," Irvine frowned. He reached over and pulled her up. "C'mon!" he said as he took her hand. "Everyone's dancing but you!" 

Rinoa sighed heavily as she looked around the club. Selphie had all but vanished into the crowd. She would occasionally see her head bobbing up and down in the sea of bodies and flashing lights. Zell had been lost long ago, Hyne only knew where he was. Quistis and Seifer were last seen dancing across from each other. 

In the crowded dance floor, they were constantly pushed together, much to Quistis' annoyance and Seifer's pleasure. Irvine tugged Rinoa into the group. The music was pounding around her as the swirling lights danced across their skin. Slowly, she began to feel the music around her. 

Before long, she was dancing with the best of them, meshing with the sea of heated bodies. Her arms were in the air as her head tilted back. Her dark hair swayed around her head as she jumped and danced around to the beat. 

That was how Squall found her, unknowingly trapped in a large group. He narrowed his eyes and searched for the cowboy. Near the center, he saw an all too familiar black hat and followed it down to the man wearing it. He was smiling and dancing with a rather large group of girls. 

"Squall!" a voice shouted. He turned around, dressed in slick leather and a white shirt that was so typical of him. He saw Zell running up to him. "Hey, glad you could make it!" 

"Whatever," Squall said. "I'm going to go upstairs for a drink!" 

"Don't you want to tell the others you're here!?" Zell shouted over the loud music. 

"I'll tell them later!" he replied. He turned and headed towards the stairs that led to the second floor where alcohol was being served. 

Rinoa turned her head just in time to see a fleeting image. *Squall!?* her mind screamed. Her dancing came to a stop as she began to try to worm her way out of the dance floor. She didn't pay any attention to the other men she had kind of been dancing with as she kept her eyes on the stair way. 

Irvine looked up and saw Rinoa heading towards the stairs. His overall rhythm didn't falter as he watched her go up the stairs. He glanced over at Seifer who had also noticed the young brunette retreat to the upper level. 

* * *

"Whiskey." Squall said, just loud enough to be heard above the pounding music of the club. Behind him, people were chatting while sitting at and around tables. Drinks were in their hands as swirling lights flashed around them. 

"Right away, sir!" the bartender said over the music as he turned around to get a glass. Squall leaned across the counter and took a deep breath as he looked at his hands. He placed his elbows on the table and took a seat on a stool by the bar. 

Rinoa stood by the top of the stairs. She paused and looked through the crowd as the young Commander accepted his drink from the bartender. He lifted it to his lips as a young woman accidentally brushed up against him. Rinoa narrowed her brown eyes as the woman attempted to speak to Squall. 

The brunette merely shook his head, not interested and turned away. The woman frowned and moved on to her next target. Rinoa let out a breath of relief. Suddenly she was tapped in the shoulder and turned around. 

"Excuse me." someone said. Rinoa apologized quickly and stepped aside as a young couple walked past her into the second level. 

She took a deep breath and with her eyes set on Squall, proceeded to walk forward. She took no more than one step when a hand gently clamped itself on her left shoulder. Rinoa whirled around and froze. 

"Think you'd get away so soon?" Irvine asked in a teasing voice. "You were dancing for a grand total of ten minutes. You can't be out of breath already!" 

"Uh..." Rinoa looked around nervously. "I just wanted to get a drink, Irvine." 

"Then why didn't you go back to the table?" Irvine asked casually. "Your drink is still there, remember." 

*I forgot about that!* her mind sang out. "I wanted something new." she lied with a smile. Irvine gave her a look of disbelief. 

"I know..." he said with suspicion. Rinoa's heart immediately began to beat faster. "There's a cute guy here, isn't there?" 

*Well, yes, but that's not the point...* her mind replied. Rinoa blushed and shook her head. "No!" she gasped. "I just..." 

"Where is he?" Irvine asked, looking around the room. "Let's see if your tastes got any better from Seifer." 

Rinoa winced and momentarily forgot about Squall. "What do you mean!?" she gasped. "I told you, that was a mistake!" 

"I think you were just desperate." Irvine said, continuing to rile her up. As Rinoa looked around nervously, Irvine searched for a man that looked like the man that Rinoa had been with the night before. 

"No, I wasn't!" she retorted proudly. "My tastes were always good! That time with Seifer was just a fluke!" 

"Right..." Irvine said. His eyes finally settled on the man at the bar. He saw the leather jacket and familiar dark hair as the figure hunched over a glass. *So... that must be the Commander.* 

"Really, Irvine," Rinoa urged as she put her hands on his broad shoulders and attempted to turn him around. She was failing, but that wasn't stopping her. "Anyway, I'm going to go get a drink real quick-" 

"Tell me what you want," Irvine said with a smile. He looked down at her and winked. "I'll get it for you." 

Rinoa's eyes went large. *Dammit!* "No, I want to go myself," she said. "I don't know what I want-" 

"Oh, there's this drink you HAVE to try," Irvine stated, already heading towards the bar. "I'll meet you back at the table! Don't worry! It won't be too strong!" He assured her and melted into the crowd by the bar. 

Rinoa shook her head, shocked that Irvine was not approaching the bar instead of her. *How did THAT happen!?* her mind screamed. She shook her head and went after him. 

Irvine took his place in the only open spot by the bar, the spot right next to Squall. "Hey!" Irvine said, waving down the bartender. "One ex-boyfriend!" 

"Right!" the bartender said. 

Irvine nodded and waited. His head bobbed to the music as he glanced down at Squall. The brunette was half way through his drink. He finally was able to get a good look at Squall. *So this is the Commander of Balamb Garden...I heard he was young, but damn...* 

"Irvine!" Rinoa snapped. Irvine turned around and laid eyes on an a peeved looking Rinoa. 

Squall's head snapped up at the sound of her voice. He knew that the cowboy standing next to him was the man he had seen her hug. He just didn't want to acknowledge it. He took a deep breath and continued to stare at his drink, ignoring Rinoa and Irvine. 

"Hey, darlin'!" Irvine said with a grin. He reached out and put an arm around Rinoa, pulling her closer. "I thought you were going to meet me downstairs?" 

Squall's hands tightened around his glass. Rinoa's brown eyes darted over to his figure. She could see past his shoulder at his hand. It gripped his glass so tightly, his hand were white. 

"Squall!" Rinoa shouted above the music. "I mean...Commander!" she said, wincing at the fact that she had slipped. 

Next to them, Squall straightened up slowly. In slow, graceful movements, he turned in his chair and looked directly at her with icy blue eyes. She swallowed nervously. "Miss Heartilly," Squall said coolly. "I see you're relaxing after the week?" 

Rinoa nodded slowly and turned back to Irvine, who still had an arm around her shoulder. She turned back to Squall. "Commander, this Irvine Kinneas from Galbadia Garden," Rinoa said, as brightly as she could. "Irvine, this is Squall Leonhart, Commander of Balamb Garden." 

"Nice to meet you!" Irvine said as he extended his free hand. Squall hesitated, but lifted up his hand slowly. Irvine grabbed it and shook it. "I'll be staying at the Garden for a while!" 

Squall didn't ask any questions. He merely nodded. Slowly, he turned back around. "He's a FRIEND!" Rinoa gasped out. Squall paused in his seat. Rinoa's voice sounded almost desperate. "He, Seifer, and I have the same manager! I've known Irvine for a long time, he's my best friend!" 

*Best friend...* Squall's mind registered. 

"He's a great friend!" Rinoa added. "And always will be!" Irvine watched them silently. 

The Commander nodded his head slightly. "I assume that his room has been prepared?" Squall asked as casually as he could as relief flooded through his body. 

Rinoa closed her eyes, also feeling relief. She smiled. "Yes, Commander. Everything is fine." 

Squall still had his back turned to her as he nodded. "Good." he said as he lifted his head up. Rinoa smiled to herself. 

Irvine glanced down at her and barely caught the smile on her face as she looked over at Squall. "Ex-boyfriend." Irvine turned his head as the bartender placed the glass in front of him. 

"Thanks. How much?" Irvine asked, reaching into his back pocket to get his wallet. He took his arm off of Rinoa and the young woman took that moment to step away. 

"7 Gil." the bartender said. 

Irvine nodded and took out his wallet. He opened it and Rinoa smiled. She reached over and grabbed Squall's hand. His head jerked up and he whirled around as he was nearly pulled off of his seat. "What-" 

"Commander, you have to dance, too!" Rinoa exclaimed as she pulled him forward. "Hey, bartender!" Rinoa called over her shoulder as she pulled Squall into the crowd. "The cowboy will pay for his drink, too!" 

"What!?" Irvine gasped. He looked up, surprised. He noticed the empty seat in front of him and turned his head to the side. Rinoa was almost to the stairs and right behind her, being dragged with her right hand, was Squall. "Rinoa!" Irvine shouted. 

He took one step forward. "Hey!" the bartender shouted behind him. "That's 14 Gil!" 

Irvine paused and turned around. He looked down at his wallet and grabbed a 20. Without a second thought, he threw it on the bar counter and took off. "Keep the change!" he shouted as he headed into the crowd. 

As if destiny was against him, he was kept from the stairs by a thick stream of people. Mentally swearing, he tried to swim through, only to reach the stairs and stop. He leaned over the railing and shook his head. A large party was heading up the stairs. 

* * *

Squall grabbed Zell as the tattooed blond was leaning over a pool table, about to hit a ball. "What the- Squall!" Zell gasped. 

"I was never here." Squall told him in a warning tone as he held on to the collar of Zell's shirt and brought him face to face. Zell's eyes were wide open. 

Zell stepped back and nodded slightly. "R...right..." Zell mumbled. Squall turned around and headed for the exit. As he ran out, Zell noticed that he was pulling someone along with him. He caught the sight of a familiar young woman with pale skin and dark hair layered around her head. His eyes went wide. "Rinoa?" 

Squall held on to Rinoa's left hand with his right hand as they wove through the groups of people trying to get into the club. They burst through the front doors, the cool night wind going over their bodies as they escaped the heated club. Their hearts were racing as their breaths were ragged. Rinoa looked around and was suddenly tugged to her left. 

She turned her head and followed behind Squall. She followed his gaze and noticed his motorcycle parked on the side of the street. Squall began to dig into his pocket with one hand to take out his keys. As they neared it, it let go of her hand. 

"Here," he said. Rinoa barely had time to catch the helmet that was tossed over to her. "Get on." 

Numbly, she nodded and put his helmet on as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Squall got on the machine and started it. Rinoa got on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Where are we going?" she asked as she leaned her head against his. 

Squall himself wasn't wearing a helmet once again. He took a deep breath and got on to the road. "Anywhere you want to dance." 

* * *

"Zell!" Irvine said. He waved his hand at the blond. "Hey, you wouldn't by any chance seen Squall and Rin, would you?" 

"Squall?" Zell asked, wrinkling his nose as he stood over the pool table, watching someone else play. "He's here already?" 

Irvine let out a heavy breath and smiled as he shook his head. "Never mind. But keep an eye out for them, okay?" 

Zell nodded. "Sure thing," Irvine thanked him and decided to go outside and check. As he did, Zell let out a heavy breath. *Sorry...* 

Irvine ran through the doors of the club and looked around. He looked up and down the streets and didn't see any sign of Rinoa or Squall. He took a deep breath and removed his hat so he could run his hand through his hair. 

"Harder than you thought, isn't it?" a mocking voice asked behind him. 

Irvine closed his eyes and slowly put his had back on. With reserved steps he turned around. Seifer was leaning against the building with his arms crossed over his chest. "Did you see them?" Irvine asked. 

Seifer smirked, as if saying 'I told you so'. He pushed himself off the wall and walked closer to Irvine, facing him proudly. "I don't have to see them to know that they're gone." 

* * *

He had plenty of gas in his motorcycle. As the wind cut through his hair, he looked down at his hand. His wrist watch showed the time in an illuminated teal color. They had been driving for an hour. 

Squall began to wonder to himself. What had he done? What was he doing? Had he really just run out of a club with one of the Garden students? As he felt Rinoa's arms tighten around his waist once more, he was assured that he had. He didn't know what had come over him. All of a sudden, he had just grabbed Rinoa's hand and pulled her along instead of the other way around. 

He had glanced over his shoulder and seen her running behind him, sometimes turning her head to see if anyone was following them. His heart had been racing at the sheer thrill of running and trying not to be caught. They could keep it secret, but then he wondered would they be able to? Stunts that they had pulled earlier were sure to get them caught. 

Rinoa leaned heavily against him. She was getting tired. They were one a long, seemingly endless road. It wound around the cliffs along the edge of the coast. They could smell the salty sea air around them as the winds blew. Rinoa turned her head and looked out towards the ocean. 

Squall felt her tug at his arm. He saw her lift her left hand and point to the ocean. *Does she want to stop?* he asked himself. He took a deep breath and nodded. The motorcycle slowed down and he drove onto the side of the road. 

In the darkness of the night, there were almost no vehicles but theirs. As soon as the bike stopped, Rinoa let go of his waist and removed the helmet. She swung her leg around the machine and shook her hair around her face. She stood there and inhaled the deep ocean scent. 

Squall sat on his bike. He turned to look at her and quietly studied her as she stood there, illuminated only by the moonlight and the stars. Her eyes were fixed out to sea. "It's so dark..." she said suddenly, breaking their silence. 

He didn't answer. Rinoa placed the helmet by the sit of the bike and then headed towards the cliff side. She leaned against the railing and closed her eyes as she leaned forward. The ocean breeze swept around her, lifting up her hair around her face as she smiled. 

"Do you like the dark?" he asked quietly. 

Rinoa smiled and shook her head. She opened her eyes slowly. "I like how you can see light the best when it's dark." 

Squall squinted and tilted his head slightly. He got off his bike and walked closer to her. He stopped a foot away from her and put his hands on the railing. "If it's dark, how can you see light?" 

"The sky is dark," Rinoa said. She turned to him and smiled softly. "But you can still see the moon and stars. If it's dark...you know there has to be light. They can't exist without each other you know." 

His eyes looked up at the sky. A streak of light flashed across for a split second and his eyes widened. With a boyish glint in his eye, he turned to Rinoa, wondering if she had seen it as well. Rinoa's eyes were fixed on the sky, a slight smile on her face. 

She glanced back at him and her slight smile widened. She pointed to the night sky. Squall continued looking at her, unable to tear his eyes away. Rinoa blushed and chuckled slightly. He blinked and took a step back. "What?" 

Rinoa merely shook her head and took his hand. "Dance with me," she said. Squall looked at her, confused. He opened his mouth and she shook her head. "Dance with me..." she insisted once more. 

Nervously he raised his hand and she took it. "Music-" 

Rinoa lifted her eyes to meet his and he stopped in mid sentence. "Just dance with me now..." she said, almost pleading. Squall nodded and she took a step forward, placing her head against him. She closed her eyes and clung on to him. "Squall..." 

Her voice was quiet. It was almost a whisper drowned out by the sound of the waves crashing below them on the cliffs. "What?" he asked quietly as his head leaned against hers. 

Rinoa swallowed hard. "There isn't anyone else," she said in a shaking voice. "There's no one else but you." 

* * *

Even though it was a weekend, the Garden still had a curfew. Rinoa looked at her watch as she tip toed through the empty halls. Most students had gone home or had stayed over in town to party rather than return to the Garden. At curfew, the gates to the Garden closed automatically. 

However, because she had been with Squall, the Commander, he let them in with ease. They walked his bike into the parking lot and went there separate ways from there. It was dangerous enough walking in together. 

Squall went through the back entrance while she went through the front doors. She took the stairs up to her floor and then turned the corner to get to her dorm. She was still feeling elated as she walked down the corridor. She closed her eyes as she blushed. In her mind, she replayed her night with him. 

It was an amazing rush to run out Irvine and the others, hand in hand with Squall. Her heart couldn't stop racing the entire time as the excitement of the evening washed over her. All she could think of was being with Squall at the time. Nothing existed but her and Squall. 

*Squall really knows how to give a goodnight kiss...* she mulled to herself as she approached her room. *And his lips are so soft...* Grinning, she lifted her keycard and slid it through the machine by her door. 

The lights blinked and her door slid open. Rinoa walked into the darkness that was her room and reached to the side wall to turn the lights on. She found the switch and flipped it up. 

"Welcome back." a deep voice said. 

Rinoa's eyes went wide as she stood frozen at the entry way of her dorm room. Brown eyes went to her bed where a tall blond was sitting and leaned casually against the head board. They drifted over to her desk chair where a man dressed as a cowboy was sitting. 

While the cowboy was smiling slightly, the blond was frowning and looking rather angry. His green eyes locked on hers. "So..." Seifer said coolly. "How was YOUR night?" 

* * *

The blue eyed brunette reached his office. He needed to gather some things before he headed to his dorm room. The elevator doors opened and Squall stepped out and walked down the corridor. 

"He's not there." an exasperated voice said from down the corridor. Squall froze and quickly leaned back against the wall, behind a jutting part of it. 

"Where could he be...?" a tired female voice sighed. 

"Zell, you've got to know where he is," Selphie's pleading voice asked. "You saw him last!" 

Squall frowned. *Dammit, Zell!* his mind growled. 

"I've already said too much!" Zell retorted nervously. "Just don't tell Seifer or Irvine!" 

"We have to tell him," Quistis said. Squall heard steps going up and down the hall in one place and he assumed that Quistis was pacing once again. "But I just can't believe that he's doing this." 

"I think it's romantic," Selphie added proudly. "C'mon, Quisty, you've got to agree." 

Squall closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he three friends talked about him. "But he KNOWS she's an academic student and not a SeeD Cadet!" Quistis gasped. "If Headmaster finds out-" 

"As long as they don't say anything, he won't find out." Selphie added. 

"If Headmaster finds out," Quistis continued nervously. "Squall won't get that promotion he's up for. And to make things worse, Rinoa's father will be angry." 

"That's right..." Zell mumbled in a sad tone. "He sent her here to get away from admirers...he won't be too happy with Squall." 

"I just want Squall to know that Seifer and Irvine know," Quistis breathed out, sounding frustrated. "I'm afraid that they'll tell General Caraway." 

Squall's eyes went wide at the revelation. He narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. He pushed himself off the wall and began to walk towards them, making sure that his footsteps were heard loudly. 

Quistis, Selphie, and Zell all turned their heads sharply at the sound of boots against the floor of the hallway. All three looked speechless for a moment as Squall seemed to melt from the dark corners of the dimly lit hall way. 

"Squall..." Zell mumbled. He looked at the other two nervously. "I didn't say anything to Seifer and Irvine! I swear-" 

Squall sent him a silencing glare and Zell looked down. Selphie took a step forward. "Squall, Seifer and Irvine know. If they tell General Caraway-" 

"Tell him what?" Squall asked with narrowed eyes. 

"About you and Rinoa," Quistis sighed tiredly. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Don't try to hide it, Squall. You're involved with her." 

"Why do you say that?" Squall asked coolly. 

"Because..." Selphie began. She began to try to find examples, but couldn't really find any that she had personally seen. 

"Her jacket!" Quistis gasped. "She was holding your jacket!" 

"She was returning it to me after I gave her a ride back to the Garden," Squall told them casually. "I ran into her in town and she needed a ride back. I let her use my jacket on the ride back." 

"What about earlier?" Zell asked. "I saw you running out with her!" 

Squall narrowed his eyes. "She said she wanted to leave." 

"But that abruptly?" Quistis gasped. "She couldn't even had told us!?" 

Squall merely walked past them and into his office. "You needn't concern yourselves with her any more," he said solemnly as he shuffled around his desk. The trio congregated at the door and looked in. "It's merely an infatuation she has. It'll pass." 

"What about you?" Quistis asked. "What about your infatuation?" 

Squall paused in what he was doing. His eyes slowly looked up. "Who ever said I had one." 


	5. Out of the Ordinary

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Five: Out of the Ordinary_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note: **Thank you all so much for the positive comments and stuff! I reallly appreciate it. Thank you for waiting on the chapters, too. I'm sorry to have to make you wait. I've just been so busy. And yes, Squall is not 'infatuated' (he's in love). ^_^ 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"Rinoa, just have a seat," Irvine said, getting off her chair and offering it to her as he stood up. Seifer sat up on her bed and leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees as Rinoa passed. "So where'd you run off to?" 

Rinoa sat down on the chair and looked up at him. "Just around..." she said, her voice uneven. 

Irvine glanced over at Seifer. The blond suddenly shot up, an angry glare on his face. "You went out with HIM, didn't you!?" Seifer shouted. "What did I tell you about him! Don't get involved!" 

"Seifer, relax-" Irvine said casually as he leaned against the wall. Seifer turned around to glare at him. 

"Don't tell me to relax-" 

"Well, you're not going to get anywhere if you just yell at her-" 

"What the hell are we supposed to do!?" Seifer growled. "I've already tried to tell her not to get involved and she doesn't listen!" 

"Seifer, Irvine, please..." Rinoa said tiredly from where she was sitting. The two tall males turned to her. She was hunched over, her face in her hands. "I really like Squall..." she admitted quietly. 

"Oh, Hyne, we're dead." Seifer sighed, throwing his arms in the air as he fell back on the bed. 

"It's not YOUR problem!" Rinoa gasped as she lifted her head and looked at them. "It's mine! I know I'm not supposed to be getting involved with him." 

"Then why ARE you?" Irvine asked. He knelt down next to Rinoa. "Rin, do you know how much trouble you can get him into if you continue seeing him." 

"I do know," Rinoa said. She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. "That's why we've decided not to...get involved until after I graduate...it's just a few months away, right?" 

She looked up earnestly at Irvine. The cowboy looked at her and then looked over at Seifer. "What about singing?" Irvine asked as his eyes fell back on to her. "What about your career?" 

"I'm not going to give it up, Irvine," Rinoa said with a weak smile. "I'm just going to start seeing Squall after I graduate. When it's nice and legal." 

Seifer raised his hand to his face and ran his hand down his face. "Rinoa...that's not the point." he mumbled. She tilted her head to the side and looked over at him. 

"Seifer, you said that I can't see him if I'm a student," Rinoa insisted. "And my father won't let me drop out of the Garden, so I might as wait until I graduate, right?" 

Irvine let out a heavy sigh. He nodded. "She has a point." Irvine said. Seifer looked over at the cowboy with a shocked face. 

"What?" Seifer snapped. 

"If Rinoa doesn't want to get involved with him right now, that's FINE," Irvine stressed. "At least she'll OUT of the GARDEN later." 

Seifer drew his head back and nodded subtly. "Right..." He mumbled. He looked over at Rinoa. "Rin, you know what will happen if you two are caught. Try not to be." 

Rinoa smiled and nodded. "I know." she said. 

Irvine stood up and leaned over Rinoa. He put his hands gently on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "Just be careful, Rin," he told her. Rinoa nodded once more and stood up as the two men headed for her door. "Good night." 

"Night." Seifer said, merely lifting a hand to wave as they exited her room. Rinoa closed her eyes and fell back on her bed. 

She put her left fore arm over her eyes. "That was close..." Slowly, she lifted her arm back up and moved it over her neck. She felt around for a thin silver chain that had been tucked under her top. 

Her slim fingers lifted up the chain to where she could see it over her head. Her right hand ran along it's length, lifting up two rings that were hanging around the chain. As the room's dim light glistened off the silver bands, a smile caressed her lips. 

* * *

"That solves the problem for now," Irvine said as they walked swiftly down the hall. "At least she'll stay away from him for the time being. That won't arouse suspicion." 

"As long as Caraway doesn't find out," Seifer said as they turned a corner. "Our only problem now is what we're going to do once she graduates." 

"When's the graduation?" 

"Five and a half months..." Seifer mumbled. "If we can get her to focus on her career, she won't be able to see him. But you know how stubborn she is." 

"At least for now we're out of the fire," Irvine replied. "I kind of feel bad for her." 

"Why?" Seifer grumbled, almost annoyed at the thought. 

"I've never seen her like that before," Irvine stated. "She must really like the guy. Too bad he's President Loire's son. I bet it would've worked out." 

Seifer snorted. "He's bad news. I don't like how attached she is to him." 

"What, jealous?" Irvine asked, grinning. 

"I heard that Leonhart races motorcycles," Seifer stated with a shrug. "Do you think a guy who lives a fast paced life style like that would understand how it feels for Rinoa to live with the burden of being a sorceress? When he breaks up with her, she'll fall apart. That's when she's the most dangerous." 

"What if he doesn't break up with her?" Irvine asked. 

"Are you really willing to risk it?" 

* * *

He swung his gunblade, cutting his opponent in two as he ran forward. He was making good time during this session in the training room. Suddenly, he heard someone yell and saw a flash of light. He turned his head just in time to see someone run through on the path across from him. 

All he saw was a flash of baby blue and black and he knew who it was. Immediately, Squall cut through the foliage and headed over to the next path. Up ahead he could see the young woman lifting up her arm before sending an iron weapon flying into her enemies. 

Her dark hair flew over her shoulders as she ran. The hems of her baby blue duster floated behind her. Rinoa ran forward, completely unaware that she was being followed. She had merely wanted some time to practice before dinner that evening and Selphie helped her schedule some time in the training room. 

She quickly slid to a stop as she was confronted with a sleeping T-Rexsaur. *Opps...* her mind thought to herself. She took a step back, debating on the best way to leave without waking it. 

She began to walk back slowly and didn't watch where she was going. A hand clamped around her mouth as her back pressed against something. Her eyes were wide as she was pulled against another body. 

"Don't scream..." a deep voice whispered into her ear. "Unless you want to wake him..." 

She felt the hand loosen around her mouth and she turned around. "Squall!?" she hissed in a low voice. He nodded and nudged his head to one side of the area. Rinoa tilted her head to the side, not sure if she was being invited somewhere or not. 

"I'll see you there." He whispered in a low voice. 

Without another word, he turned and disappeared into the forest. Rinoa opened her mouth to yell for him to wait, but stopped before she could. Her eyes turned back to the sleeping reptile and she slowly backed away. 

* * *

Squall sat around a hidden glen in the training room. He looked around as his gunblade laid next to where he was sitting, silently hoping that she could find him. 

*Maybe I should've given her more instructions than just a nod of my head.* he thought to himself. 

"Whoa!" a voice sounded at his left and he turned around. Rinoa stumbled from the shrubs and fell forward. She quickly caught herself before she fell and began to pick off the branches and leaves that had attached themselves to her clothes. 

"Rinoa." Squall called out. He began to stand up, brushing off his clothes as she looked up at him and smiled. 

"I'm glad I found you!" she said with a slight laugh as she walked towards him. She had a few leaves stuck in her hair. "I thought I got lost in the shrubs or something." 

"It looks like you brought it with you," Squall said. He raised his hand as he approached her and removed a small twig from her hair. Rinoa blushed as he dropped the twig and brushed back her hair. "Am I bothering you?" 

"No!" she gasped, her eyes wide. "I was just practicing. It's no big deal, really." 

He smiled slightly. "It's been two weeks," he said softly. "How are you doing?" 

Rinoa smiled and sat down on the ground. He slowly took his seat next to her. "Okay," she said with a bright smile as she pulled her legs up to her knees. "School is pretty easy. I guess it's because I don't have to take those hard SeeD general requirement classes." 

"Those aren't that hard," he assured her. He was sitting next to her, his legs stretched out in front of them as he leaned back against his arms. "Has anyone asked?" 

"Hmmm?" Rinoa looked over at him and thought for a moment. She shook her head. "Not really... but Seifer and Irvine have been keeping an eye on me. Seifer won't let me go anywhere by myself." 

"You're here by yourself," Squall stated. His eyes narrowed. "Is someone else here?" 

"No," Rinoa said, shaking her head. "Selphie said that this was the only time she could schedule me in and Seifer and Irvine and the others couldn't make it." 

Squall raised an eyebrow slightly and nodded. *What a coincidence...Selphie had me switch times with her this week...* he thought to himself. "So you're here alone." 

Rinoa nodded. "Well, not anymore, anyway," she said with a smile. "How are you doing?" 

"I miss you," he stated simply. Rinoa blushed furiously as she turned her head away. Suddenly, there were butterflies in her stomach as she tightened her hold around her knees. "Are you all right?" 

She nodded slightly. "I just haven't seen you in two weeks," Rinoa said weakly. "I was kind of worried that you'd forgotten about-" 

"How could I forget about you?" Squall asked, cutting her off. She turned her head to look at him with large brown eyes. They met his hardened blue ones which softened upon reflecting her. "I want to see you." he said softly as he lifted up his right hand. He had removed his gloves and hardened, callused hands touched flushing cheek. 

Rinoa closed her eyes and struggled to keep her breathing under control as his touch sent fire across her body. "I want to see you, too...I'm afraid to go see you." 

"I know," he whispered softly. "Just a few more months, Rinoa...just wait." He pressed his forehead against hers and she nodded. His hands ran through her thick hair, pulling her closer to him as his soft lips caressed her forehead. They trailed down to meet her lips as she wrapped her arms around him. 

"Why can't I see you?" Rinoa whimpered as she fell against him. Squall turned his body to hold her as she buried her face against his shoulder. "It's not fair...I can't even see you. I never even see you in the school. It's like you're avoiding me." 

Squall closed his eyes and gently stroked his hair. "You're going to hear things," Squall whispered. "Things that I'll say that'll hurt you. But I swear, it's only to protect us." 

"Things?" Rinoa asked. She pushed away from him. "What things?" 

"People have started talking," Squall told her reluctantly. "You know what'll happen if they find out," Rinoa nodded. "I told them that there is nothing between us." 

Rinoa nodded once more. "I understand." 

"No matter what you hear, don't believe it." he told her sternly as he held her at arms length. 

"Squall," Rinoa said quietly as she lifted her head to look up at him. "Do you think that I'm only infatuated with you?" 

Slowly he drew his head back, unsure of what to say. Rinoa's eyes looked up at him, begging him to answer her. "I hope not..." he told her truthfully. "I'm not infatuated with you." 

Rinoa's lower lip trembled as she closed her eyes. "Then how do you feel about me?" she asked. 

Squall's heart stopped in his chest. How was he supposed to answer that question? He stared at her, unsure of how to answer. "I..." he began nervously. As uncertainty filled the air, Rinoa pulled away from him. 

"Do you even feel anything for me?" she asked quietly. Her eyes were downcast and she couldn't bring herself to look up at him. 

Squall sat there silently. It was more than an infatuation. It was more than just caring about her. It was just more. He did feel something for her, just didn't know how to describe it. "I feel everything for you." he replied suddenly. Rinoa lifted her head to meet his. 

"What?" 

Squall looked away and stared at the ground in front of him as Rinoa looked over. "I can't stop thinking about you. When I wake up in the morning to when I sleep at night, my first and last thoughts are of you. I sit and wonder what you're doing. If you're all right. If you want to see me, too. I don't know how to describe it." 

Rinoa sat there quietly. She sat up on her knees and crawled over to him slowly. As she stopped next to him she sat up once more. Squall was hunched over, staring helplessly at the grass. Two arms wrapped around his shoulders and he felt her body lean against his back. 

Her head rested to the right of his and he could smell the scent of shampoo in her hair as the beating of her heart hit his chest. "You don't have to wonder any more," she whispered softly in his ear as she closed her eyes. "I want to see you, too." 

Squall lifted his hands and held on to hers as they held him against her. He closed his eyes and leaned back. He tilted his head to the side and kissed her cheek softly. "I'll see you again," he told her gently. "You can see me any time." 

"Where?" Rinoa asked, slightly surprised. She pulled away slightly and he whispered something in her ear. 

* * *

"Rinoa, how was your training session?" Irvine said as he caught up with the young woman. Rinoa turned around and smiled. 

"Great! I feel energized. I think I did pretty well in there." she said, fully self assured. Irvine laughed and nodded. 

"Good to hear that," he said. "So what are you up to now?" she asked. 

"Going up to my room and study," Rinoa said as she pressed the button on the elevator. "Quistis has a test tomorrow." 

"Study hard then!" Irvine said. "See you at dinner?" 

"Nope," Rinoa said, shaking her head as the doors opened. "I have some breakfast bars. I'll snack on them!" 

"That's not healthy, Rin!" Irvine shouted as the doors closed. 

"Later, Irvine!" She chuckled to herself as the doors slid closed. Irvine sighed and shook his head. Rinoa held on to her bag as she impatiently waited for the doors to reopen. 

When they did, she nearly flew out of the elevator, almost knocking down some other SeeD cadets. She shouted an apology over her shoulder as she rushed to her room. She dug through her pocket for her key card and managed to find it. She slid it through the reader and her door slid open. She punched in a locking code so that Irvine and Seifer, who knew her pin, couldn't enter. 

She turned on her lights and tossed her duffel bag on to her bed. She quickly unzipped it and pulled out a bag from the electronic store in town. She smirked, almost deviously, as she took the box out of it and set up the small camera on her desk. 

She attached it to her laptop and installed the equipment. None of the dorm rooms had phones, but they did have access to the network. As far as she knew, the network wasn't monitored. It was too much of a hassle and besides, most of the Garden was on the network at one time anyway. 

Rinoa adjusted the camera around her desk so she could get the best picture of her and smiled. Everything was ready. 

* * *

Squall put his gunblade by his bed as he removed his jacket. He glared at the pile of papers that were on his desk. He'd have to finish that by the next day and decided to bring some of his work with him from the office. He turned on his desk lamp and sat on his chair. 

He looked up at the monitor of his lap top, which he had kept running the whole day. He tilted his head to the side as he saw a flashing message on the screen. He lifted his hand and began to move the optical mouse he had bought. He accepted the message. 

"Turn on your camera...?" he said, reading the words that were sent to him in a message. Shrugging, he did as he was told and reached over to the small camera that Selphie had gotten him for his lap top. He adjusted it so it faced him and then watched as his image appeared on the screen. 

Another box appeared and he mentally swore. He clicked accept, hoping it wasn't another random pop up ad. Suddenly, a small screen opened and a familiar face smiled back at him. "Hi!" a voice said from the speakers. 

"Rinoa?" he asked, surprised. The microphone on the laptop caught it. 

She smiled brightly, extremely pleased with herself for having been able to turn set up the equipment by herself. "I missed you." 

Squall smiled slightly and enlarged the box. Her picture was slightly fuzzy, but he could see her perfectly. The image was from her shoulders up to her head and it was almost life size. "You actually bought a camera?" 

Rinoa nodded enthusiastically. "I went out and got it today!" she said. "What do you think? Now I can see you." 

"It'll do for now," Squall said, smiling warmly. His hand rose and touched the screen, as if trying to caress her face. "It's good to see you...and hear you." 

Rinoa blushed. "Will this be easier?" Rinoa asked. Squall nodded. 

"It will do," he told her. "I'll leave the camera on," he told her. "If you ever want to see me, just go on. I'll accept all your connections." 

"Thanks," Rinoa said. "This was a good idea. Best hundred gil I've ever spent." Squall chuckled slightly. 

"It's still a poor substitute for you," he admitted. "So what are you doing?" 

"I just finished setting this up," Rinoa said. "I'm surprised you're not at the speedway." 

"I have to finish some work by tomorrow," Squall sighed. "Then I'll go after I turn it in." 

"Can I go with you some time?" Rinoa asked. Squall tilted his head slightly and Rinoa blushed. "I mean...once I graduate." 

Squall smiled. "Of course." 

"I wish I could be there," Rinoa said. "You know...at the G-14 in a few months. But it's too suspicious, you know." 

"It's during a break," Squall said. "Are you going to be in Galbadia?" 

"I'm supposed to do a concert," Rinoa sighed. "So I might not be." He nodded, disappointed. He took a deep breath and tried to smile. 

"As long as you think of me, I'll be fine." 

Rinoa smiled. "They broadcast it, right?" she asked eagerly. Squall nodded. "Then I'll watch it!" she asserted loudly. "I'll be watching you, Squall." 

"What about your concert?" Squall asked. "Is it going to be broadcasted?" 

Rinoa blushed and nodded. "Yes," she said. "It's going to be a live broadcast of my new song." 

Squall looked at her image intently. "Then I'll be watching you, too." 

"It'll be like we're there with each other," Rinoa said, slightly sad. "Even if we're not. Squall..." 

"Yes?" 

Rinoa closed her eyes slowly and reopened them. She looked directly at him, as if they were really sitting across from each other. "I want to be with you now." 

* * *

"Hey, Squall," Selphie said as she approached the brunette who was walking down the hall. The young commander turned around and nodded his head to acknowledge her. "You're going to be at the dance this Friday right?" 

"Why?" Squall asked, narrowing his eyes. A dance meant that he would have to dress up and waste his time standing around. 

"It's the mid-quarter dance," Selphie sighed. "Everyone's going to be there. You should come. You haven't hung around with us in a while." 

*That's because Rinoa hangs around with you and I can't be seen with her,* Squall thought. "I've just been very busy. You know that." 

"Oh, come on, Squall," Selphie pleaded with large green eyes. "We haven't seen you a while. You're always working or at the speedway. You could at least say hi to your friends." 

Squall let out a heavy breath. "Selphie, you know I CAN'T." he stressed. 

Selphie looked around and stepped closer. "Is it because of Rinoa?" she whispered in a quietly voice. Squall opened his mouth to disagree, but Selphie continued talking. "Squall, you know we won't say anything." 

"There isn't anything to speak of." Squall insisted. 

He tired to step around Selphie, but the petite brunette quickly darted in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "Squall, you don't have to lie about it," Selphie told him. "Believe me. We want to help." 

Squall narrowed his eyes. "Selphie, I don't know-" 

"Why do you think I asked you to switch times with me the other week for training room sessions?" she asked. "The only reason Irvine and Seifer agreed to let Rinoa be scheduled that time was because they thought she was going with me." 

Squall stood there, his eyes down cast. "I thought you had something to do with it." 

"Squall, you must feel something for her," Selphie persisted. "You gave her a ride on your motorcycle...you've never done that with anyone! Remember when Zell's car broke down on the side of the road and you passed by. You didn't give him a lift back to the Garden, you left him there and set for a tow truck." 

"Zell didn't want to ride with me." Squall stated. 

Selphie sighed. "Just be there," she said. "She wants to see you..." Squall paused. He slowly lifted his head to meet Selphie's gaze. 

"How do you know?" he asked quietly. 

"Because whenever we're walking down the hall she looks around, as if expecting to see someone," Selphie told him. "Quistis will keep Seifer occupied," she added. "And I'll make sure Irvine is busy." 

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Squall asked with icy narrowed blue eyes. "Do you know how much trouble you're getting into?" 

Selphie smiled brightly and nodded. "Do you?" she asked casually. Squall drew his head back and Selphie's smile grew. "We'll see you then." 

* * *

"Selphie, this isn't a good idea," Quistis said nervously as she paced the room of Selphie's dorm. "Seifer will be furious if he finds out!" 

"If you keep him occupied, he won't care," Selphie assured Quistis. "Besides, this is fun." 

"HOW is risking our jobs FUN?" Quistis asked, her blue eyes wide. 

Selphie giggled. "It won't hurt for them to see each other face to face once in a while," Selphie told her. "Besides, no one is going to suspect anything. Almost no one but us knows about them and if Squall sits with us, it's only a coincidence that Rinoa is there, too. She's our friend, too, after all." 

"Are you forgetting that Headmaster will be there?" Quistis asked nervously. "What will he say?" 

"He probably won't even notice," Selphie said in a relaxed tone. "Besides, what's so wrong with it? Squall's been to dances before and he's danced with students and cadets before... kind of..." 

"Being asked to dance and then rejecting everyone doesn't count as dancing," Quistis sighed. "Rinoa's going to be performing, isn't she?" 

"Just one song," Selphie said. "That way he'll see her for sure." 

"You do realize that if we're caught, we'll be penalized...maybe even fired." Quistis stated. 

Selphie nodded. "Yeah, but you've seen Rinoa when we mention Squall. Her eyes get all big and she listens intently. And Squall's been more lively. You said so yourself that he was a lot more attentive at the faculty meeting and has been doing his work on time." 

Quistis sighed and nodded. She had noticed that. Ever since Rinoa arrived at the school, Squall had been doing his work on time and at meetings, he was listening and even putting in his impute rather than saying 'whatever' or worse, just sitting there in silence. Several times, she had gone to his office and seen him working on papers. 

Sometimes he was even on his computer, doing record checks and writing reports. The strangest part was that he didn't seem at all angry at it. He seemed rather relaxed as he worked on files and mountains of papers. She had also noticed that he had been wearing headphones the last two times. 

Regardless, even as his work load increased, he had been turning them all in on time. Xu thought he was sick at one point. Quistis looked down at her hands as she sat on the edge of Selphie's bed. The petite brunette smiled proudly. She knew that Quistis was going to help, even though she protested. 

"Let's just pray that it all works out." Quistis sighed. 

"Yes!" Selphie beamed. "I knew you'd help, Quistis!" 

"I'm not helping-" 

"Now that it's decided, let's call Rinoa!" 

"Why?" Quistis said. "You can't tell her we're getting involved in this-" 

"I'm not!" Selphie said as she searched for her cellular phone amongst the piles of paper on her desk. Selphie winked as she found her phone. "I just want to make sure she'll wear something nice for it." 

* * *

Rinoa pinned the last silver barrette into her hair and stepped back. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. Everything seemed in place. She wore a short black dress without any straps and matching black heels. She looked over herself in the mirror as a few stray strands of her bangs fell over her face. There was a knock at her door. 

"Coming!" she shouted. She grabbed her key card and slipped it into a small purse as she headed for the sliding doors. They opened and outside was Irvine, wearing a dark suit and his cowboy hat. She began to laugh at the sight. 

"What?" Irvine asked, somewhat amused at her reaction. 

"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you," she said. "What's on your head?" she asked as she stepped out. She lifted her hand and tugged on his hat. 

"What does it look like? It's my lucky hat." he laughed. Rinoa merely shook her head and grinned. 

"Hoping to get lucky?" she asked casually as she linked arms with her long time best friend. 

"Hey, I get to walk in with the infamous Rinoa Caraway," Irvine said proudly as they walked towards the elevators. "How lucky can I get?" 

Rinoa merely chuckled and shook her head as the elevator doors opened. "So where's Seifer? I thought he was going, too?" They stepped inside and the doors closed. Irvine reached over and pressed the button. Soon the elevator began to move. 

"I think he's going with Quistis," Irvine said. "So I believe he went to pick her up." 

"Zell and Selphie must already be there," Rinoa said. "I don't think Raijin and Fujin were going. I think they went fishing." 

"Yeah, Seifer wanted to go, but then Quistis said she was going and you know how he is." Irvine shrugged. 

Rinoa laughed. "They're made for each other," she grinned. The elevator doors slid open and even though they were down the hall, they could hear the music coming out of the ball room at the end of the hall. "Looks like the party's started." 

"It hasn't started until I'm there." Irvine said with a smirk. Rinoa merely laughed once more and headed for the doors. They were greeted by Headmaster Cid who was standing there with his wife. Irvine removed his hat as he greeted them. The middle aged man chuckled and told them to have a good time. 

Rinoa and Irvine stepped into the wonderfully decorated ball room. A DJ was playing on a stage to one side as a long table stretched out across one room lined with food and drinks. Tables covered in yellow cloth were scattered around the area except for the dance floor. The lights were very dim, almost dark, as lights moved around the dance floor. 

"I was beginning to think you two weren't going to make it!" a voice shouted from the. 

"Selphie!" Irvine said, immediately letting go of Rinoa's arm. The dark haired young woman sighed. 

*Look how quickly he forgets his best friend for a pretty face...ah, Irvine...you're so simple.* she thought to herself. 

"Hi, Irvy! Hi, Rinoa!" Selphie said as Irvine put his arm around her shoulder. "Are you all set to go?" 

"Whenever you're ready," Rinoa said. She looked around the ball room once more. "You did a great job, by the way." 

"Thanks!" Selphie beamed her a smile. "If you want, you can head up to the stage. Everything is ready for you." 

"Thanks, Selphie," Rinoa said. "Any requests?" 

"Hmm...what about a slow song?" Irvine asked casually. "That way I can dance with Selphie here," *And know that you're not going to sneak out to see the commander.* 

Selphie merely smiled and Rinoa nodded. "Sure thing," Rinoa said. "Have you seen Quistis and Seifer?" 

"They're sitting at the table arguing as usual," Selphie said. She pointed to the table to one side of the ball room. Seifer was sitting there as Quistis talked. He'd interject every so often, only to be put into place by Quistis. "You want to put your purse down first?" 

"Sure!" Rinoa said. She walked over to the table with Selphie and Irvine behind her. 

"Will you just stop pouting?" Quistis snapped at Seifer as they neared them. "You look fine." 

"I can't believe I'm wearing this..." Seifer grumbled. He looked down at the shirt that Quistis had made him wear. It was a dusty pink color that matched with Quistis' dress. 

Irvine smirked as they joined them. "Hey, I'm going to be singing in a moment," Rinoa said as she reached the table. She put her purse down next to Quistis'. "Are you guys going to dance?" 

"Psst...no." Seifer snorted. 

Quistis rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll just dance with someone else!" 

"You can dance with me, Quistis," Irvine, giving her a charming smile. "You AND Selphie." 

Immediately, Seifer shot out of his seat. His hand flew down to Quistis. "Well?" 

Quistis looked at him hesitantly. "Well, what?" 

Seifer rolled his eyes. "Are we going to dance or what?" 

Rinoa sighed and headed for the stage. As she approached, Selphie ran up ahead of her. She got on the stage and waved at the DJ. The music died down and everyone looked up towards the stage as it illuminated. 

"Welcome everyone to the Mid-Quarter Dance!" Selphie said. "We have a special performance by one of our students - Rinoa Caraway!" 

People began to clap and shout as Rinoa approached the microphone. Selphie quickly ran down the steps of the stage to meet up with Irvine as Rinoa smiled and lifted up the microphone. The lights began to dim around her and she looked around. She couldn't see Squall anywhere, but then again she had assumed that he wasn't coming. 

She took a deep breath as the music stared behind her. At the sound of a familiar tune of her most famous ballad, couples began to flood the dance floor. Seifer and Quistis were among them and Rinoa lifted up the microphone to her lips. 

* * *

He looked at his watch as he strode through he halls to the ball room. He had left early that day to go to the speedway. After going over some paper work for the G-14 with Cloud, he rushed back. 

Even though he had been speeding, he was going to arrive at the dance late. He had gone to take a shower and change into his formal SeeD uniform before he left for the actual dance. 

As he approached the ball room, he heard clapping and cheering from the inside. Squall saw Headmaster Cid standing by the entrance talking to some faculty members and greeted him before he entered. Just as he did, the sound of familiar music reached his ears. 

He looked up at the stage and froze at his spot by the door. A rich, warm voice reached out through the ball room as the ballad swept the crowd away. Rinoa stood several yards from him on a stage, separated by tables, chairs, and people. She held a microphone in her hand as she swayed from side to side, singing. 

Her voice wrapped around him like a blanket as he walked closer to the dance floor. He reached an empty table and sat down on a chair, his blue eyes on her the entire time. He envied the sea of couples dancing between him and Rinoa as she sang. Every so often, her free hand extended and moved around her as she swayed and turned her head slowly, in motion with the music. 

Rinoa looked around the room once more as she paused for a moment of breath. Her eyes searched the darkened crowds for Squall. She could see nothing but a sea of people. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the figure sitting on a chair and smiled. 

Their eyes locked and she raised the microphone higher. Her voice grew stronger and Squall smiled. The faint spot lights on her brightened slightly as looked back at him. Suddenly, it seemed as if the crowd of dancing couples disappeared. For a moment it was just them and nothing stood between them. 

Squall's thoughts emptied and focused solely on her as the music rang in his ears. She was singing to him and he knew it. Every powerful note she let out was directed to him. Her eyes could only see him as his only saw her. 

As the song came to a close, the crowd began to clap and Rinoa smiled and put the microphone back. The DJ picked up where she left off and Rinoa walked off the stage. The music drew out into a another slow song and the DJ named off some dedications. Selphie, who had been slow dancing with Irvine, looked past the tall cowboy and saw their commander sitting there. 

He wore an uncharacteristic smile on his face as he stood up to greet someone who was approaching. Selphie looked back up at Irvine and smiled, trying to keep him facing her. "So...are you sure you don't want to dance with any other girls?" Selphie asked with a brightly smile. 

"Oh, c'mon, Selphie," Irvine said with a grin. "You know you're the only girl here for me." 

"Sure..." Selphie said. 

She glanced past him again and saw Rinoa approach Squall. The young singer smiled and blushed as Squall greeted her. 

"So..." Rinoa said as Squall stood across the table from her. "How did you like the song?" 

"It's my favorite," Squall replied. "Is it for anyone in particular?" 

A shy smile caressed her lips and she looked away. "It is now..." 

Squall let out a slight laugh and looked around the darkened room. Everyone seemed to be dancing in the darkened room. He looked back at Rinoa and noticed how she looked around, not really looking at him. He smiled and walked around the table. "Would you like to dance?" he offered, surprising himself. 

Rinoa turned to him, her eyes wide with surprise. She hadn't really expected to him to ask. Regardless, she smiled and nodded and placed her hand on his extended one. His warm fingers wrapped around hers and lead her to the dance floor. 

"I thought we weren't going to publicize this..." she whispered in a low voice as they made their way towards the center of the dance floor. 

"I'm free to dance with whoever I wish," Squall said. "It's not like I've never danced before." 

Rinoa giggled and nodded. He stopped in front of her and turned around. Rinoa put her hand on his shoulder as he placed his hand on her hip. She lifted her head to meet his eyes. Warm blue crystals looked back at her with a gentle calling, making her entire body heat up. 

Squall looked down at her. Her eyes captivated him. They were like deep pools of amber reflecting him. Unconsciously, he pulled her closer to him, but didn't notice the flush on her face when their bodies met. Rinoa gave him a shaky smile as she slowly placed her head on his shoulder. 

Squall smiled as she rested against him. He didn't notice the people around them as he gently leaned his head against hers. Slowly, their bodies danced in a small circle amongst the other students. 

Quistis was dancing with Seifer, about a foot away from the tall blond. Seifer looked annoyed with the situation as they danced in a little circle. "Would it kill you to get closer?" Seifer asked in an annoyed voice. His green eyes looked around the room. Everyone else was practically pasted to each other except for them. 

"Yes. Just shut up and dance." Quistis stated simply. She was holding Seifer's hand with hers and the other was placed firmly on his shoulder, keeping him a foot away. 

Seifer grumbled about how stupid they looked. He was rolling his eyes when he saw something to their side. He turned his head and narrowed his eyes. Quistis followed his gaze as she felt him tense up under her hands and mentally swore. He had finally seen Rinoa and Squall. She could see his sudden urge to pull away written on his face and thought quickly. 

Seifer nearly stumbled back as he looked down. Quistis was suddenly leaning against him, her arms around his neck. "Quistis?" he asked, sounding completely shocked. 

"One dance won't hurt, right?" Quistis asked in a weak voice as she looked up at him, her face burning with a blush. *I hope she knows that sacrifices I'm making for her...* 

Seifer looked back over at Squall and Rinoa and then back to Quistis. It didn't take him long to put his arms around the beautiful blond instructor and hold her against him. "You do realize that you can't escape me now." he stated coolly. 

Quistis couldn't help but smirk. "Well, it's not like you want me to," She looked up at him, her blue eyes seemingly laughing at him. *Hmmm...I like his cologne...* 

Seifer snorted out a laugh and gave her his 'I'm better than you' smirk. "You got that right." 

* * *

"Selphie's out done herself this time," Edea said as she stood with her husband to the entrance of the ball room. They looked over the dancing bodies and smiled. "Everyone seems to be having a good time." 

"Did you see Squall yet?" Cid asked as he held a glass of champagne. "He came by earlier while you were in the bathroom." 

Edea shook her head. "No, I barely had time to see the children," Edea said warmly as she played chaperone. "Oh, there is Selphie! She's dancing with that young man from Galbadia. I heard he was quite popular with the female cadets." 

Cid nodded and looked around. "Well, there is a first," he chuckled. "Seifer and Quistis aren't at each other's throats." 

"Where?" Edea asked, looking over the crowd. She smiled as she saw the two blondes unnaturally close to each other. Her eyes drifted over and caught the back side of a dark haired youth. She squinted her eyes. "Dear, I believe I found Squall." 

"Where?" Cid asked. Edea pointed through the crowd and Cid tilted his head up to try and catch the brunette. 

They saw him dancing with a pale of pale arms around his neck. Edea chuckled. "I'm glad he's dancing. Usually, he's such a wall flower." 

Cid chuckled and nodded. Then Squall and his partner turned around. Cid's amused smile left his face as he recognized the young woman holding on to Squall. "Hyne..." he murmured quietly. 

Edea looked over at him and frowned. "What is it, dear?" 

"He's dancing with General Caraway's daughter." Cid said. 

Edea looked back over at Squall and nodded. "So he is." 

"This isn't good." 

Edea merely raised an eyebrow in question. "Why not?" Cid shook his head. 

"It's just a dance," he said out loud, as if to assure himself. "It's nothing, right?" 

Edea looked at him. "Cid...dear...perhaps it's time for you to go to bed." 

* * *

Unaware of all the eyes on them, Squall leaned over and whispered something in Rinoa's ear. She blushed and nodded. As the song ended he pulled away from her and gave her a formal bow before stepping out of the dance floor. 

"Squall!" a voice called to his left. He turned around and looked over at Cid. He saluted him. 

"Yes, sir?" 

Cid looked at him nervously. "I need to speak to you privately. Please come to my office tomorrow morning." 

"Yes, sir," Squall said. Cid nodded and stepped back. "May I ask as to what it concerns?" 

"Eh...?" Cid's eyes darted around and he shook his head. "I'll speak to you about it tomorrow. Have a good evening, Commander." 

"Yes, Headmaster," As the middle aged man turned around and headed towards his wife, Squall narrowed his eyes. *He saw us.* 


	6. Demons on the Track

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Six: Demons on the Track_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** Someone requested Tifa and since Tifa is my favorite FFVII character, she's here. ^_^ More cameos from FF7, 9, and 10 as much of this will be at the speedway. 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"Sir, Commander Leonhart is here to see you." the secretary said. Cid sat up straight on the large leather chair behind the oak desk and looked at the phone. He took a deep breath and reached out his hand to press one of the buttons. 

"Let him in." Cid said in a steady voice. He had been rehearsing what he was going to say to Squall all last night. He finished reading over one last document as the door opened and Squall stepped into the office. He gave Cid a salute. 

"Good morning, sir." 

"Good morning, Squall." 

"You asked for me?" Squall said. Cid nodded and motioned to the chair in front of him. 

"Please have a seat," Cid told the young commander. Squall walked forward and sat on the plush leather chair in front of Cid's desk. Cid put his pen down and looked up at Squall. "I saw you at the dance last night, Squall. You seemed to be having a good time. You rarely ever dance." 

Squall nodded his head slightly as one thought went through his head - Cid knew about him and Rinoa. "Everyone has to take a chance sometime, sir." 

Cid nodded and removed his glasses. He placed them on the table and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don't really know how to say this, Squall..." he said tiredly. He put his glasses back on. "But after seeing you last night and witnessing your actions with the student Rinoa Heartilly Caraway, I decided just to ask you flat out. Are you aware that Miss Caraway is a student and not a cadet?" 

Squall nodded. "Yes, sir." 

"And as for the rumors that you are seeing Miss Caraway-" 

"Rumors?" Squall asked, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. "What rumors?" 

Cid looked slightly surprised. "You mean you haven't heard them?" Cid asked. "A few students have seen you riding outside the Garden on your motorcycle with Miss Caraway. A few saw you two in a cafe once." 

Squall's eyes narrowed. "Do people think that Rin-Miss Caraway and I are involved?" Cid nodded. 

"And it seems that last night's dance with her seemed to solidify the rumors," Cid added. "You are aware of the student-SeeD Administration involvement policy, aren't you?" 

Squall nodded once more. "SeeD Administrators, including faculty and all non-cadet SeeDs are not to engage in romantic or sexual involvement with non-cadet, academic students." he repeated. 

"Then you can understand why I am concerned," Cid continued. He leaned forward slightly and looked nervous. "Squall, are you involved with Miss Caraway?" 

"No, sir." Squall stated sternly. 

Cid let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Please keep the policy into consideration, Squall." 

"Yes, sir." 

"It is especially difficult in Miss Caraway's case." Squall tilted his head slightly and looked at Cid as the headmaster leaned back against his chair. 

"Why is that?" Squall asked. 

"Miss Caraway's father is General Caraway." 

"The head of the Galbadian army?" Squall asked. Cid nodded and looked at Squall with a serious face. 

"He's a very powerful man that can do a lot of damage - without the Galbadian army," Cid informed him. "You must know that Miss Caraway is a popular singer. The reason she's in Balamb Garden in the first place was because she was stalked at her old school in Deling City. Her father was worried, so he had her sent to a secluded Garden like Balamb." 

"Stalkers?" Squall mumbled. *She never told me about that...* 

"We are under strict direction by General Caraway to see to it that Miss Caraway will not be involved romantically with someone here at the Garden. He's afraid that she will get hurt." Cid explained. 

"That's very understandable, sir," Squall said. "But I don't see why we have to treat Miss Caraway's case so special." 

"I already told you that General Caraway is an extremely powerful man," Cid said. "He has connections to Galbadia Garden and knows people in high places that can mean trouble for us." 

Squall narrowed his eyes. "Is he threatening us?" Squall spat out. Cid immediately shook his head. 

"No, no..." the headmaster stammered. "But we just don't want to cause trouble at this point. Seeing to it that Miss Caraway is not engaged in any sort of affair is a small price to pay-" 

"But sir, I just don't think it's right for us to deny Miss Caraway something like this-" 

"It doesn't matter," Cid told him firmly. "The only person I was worried about getting involved with Miss Caraway is you. The rumors were specially concerning. Not to mention that Miss Caraway seemed especially content when she was dancing with you." 

"I assure you, it was nothing," Squall stated. He felt his blood begin to boil at the thought of Rinoa being put under some sort of watch dog. "Miss Caraway and I are not involved. Aside from having the same friends and occasionally being in the same room, we are not having any sort of affair." 

"You are an excellent SeeD, Squall," Cid told him. "I would hate to have to punish you if you break the policy. And if you do with Miss Caraway, it'll be even worse. General Caraway will be down our throats about it." 

"I understand." 

"If you do break the policy..." Cid took a deep breath. "I'm afraid I will have to retract the vacation time granted to you." 

Squall's eyes went wide and his hands clamped on the edge of the table. "The time for the G-14?" he gasped. Cid nodded. "But sir, I requested that a month or so ago and everything has already been finalized-" 

"I'm sorry, commander," Cid said as he sat up straight. "But the rules are rules. Besides, you yourself have assured me that there is nothing going on between you and Miss Caraway, therefore you should have no problem." 

Squall closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, sir. I understand." 

"Excellent," Cid said. He gave Squall a weak smile. "You are dismissed." 

Squall stood up quickly and turned his back to the headmaster as he headed for the door. His hands were clenched at his sides. It took all his will power not to slam Cid's door. *He knows we're involved,* Squall thought for the billionth time. *He knows! Otherwise he wouldn't have mentioned the punishment. Dammit!* 

He walked down the hall and looked at his watch. It was still early and he wasn't scheduled to leave for the speedway until later, around noon. He needed to talk to Rinoa. As far as he knew, she was still sleeping in her dorm room. And obviously walking up to her room would only fuel the rumors. 

Instead, he headed for his room. She had told him that she had set up her computer to accept all his messages. Perhaps he could send her a message and tell her to really watch what she was doing around him. Squall slid his key card through the reader and allowed his doors to slide open before he walked in. He headed straight for his laptop. 

It was already on and he opened up the program. A small screen popped up and he saw an image of Rinoa's room. Her bed was still messy. Suddenly, he saw someone pass by the camera. Squall opened up a text box to send her the message. 

He looked back up and froze in his seat. Rinoa was now by her closet and was tossing some clothes on her bed. He could hear music coming from her laptop. Rinoa's head was bobbing up and down as she danced to the music and Squall smiled. 

Rinoa then closed her closet once she had her clothes laid out. She was dressed in an oversized gray T-shirt that reached her knees. Her hair was all over her head. She was looking over her bed, her back to the camera, when she put her hands over the edge of her T-shirt and lifted it over her head. 

Squall's eyes went wide as she tossed the shirt into the hamper at the foot of her bed. Try as he might, Squall couldn't bring himself to turn away from the monitor. Instead, he enlarged the screen. 

Rinoa grabbed the towel hanging over the edge of her bed and wrapped it around her body before slipping out of her teal undies and dark colored socks. She matted them into a little ball and tossed them into the hamper. It was then that she turned around. She seemed to look over at her desk before rushing forward. She played with the mouse and her eyes went wide. 

"SQUALL!?" she gasped as her face flushed. 

As she wrapped her arms tighter around her and her towel, she sat down on her chair. Squall felt his entire body turn red as he realized that he had been caught. "I just got here!" he gasped out. 

She gave him a look of disbelief. "What did you see?" 

"Nothing!" he insisted. She narrowed her eyes and glanced up at the camera on her desk. "I swear!" 

"Well, what is it?" she asked. "I'm about to go take a shower." 

Squall shook his head and tried to clear his mind. He let out a deep breath. "I just got out of a meeting with Cid." 

"The headmaster?" Rinoa asked. Squall nodded. 

"He saw us dancing last night-" 

"He doesn't KNOW does he!?" she gasped. 

"I think he does, but he doesn't want to admit it," Squall explained. "I didn't know about this, but there are rumors going on about us." 

"I knew that." 

"What?" Squall asked. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

"Because you'd be upset," Rinoa answered. "Besides, they're just rumors." 

"Regardless, we have to be even more careful now," Squall replied. He paused. "Rinoa... why didn't you tell me that you came to Balamb Garden because you were being stalked?" 

The dark haired woman's face paled. "How...how did you know about that?" she asked in a quiet voice. 

"Cid mentioned it," Squall answered. "He also told me that your father has requested that you not get involved with anyone while you are here." 

"What?" Rinoa asked. Her eyes narrowed as anger flooded her senses. "Dammit!" she shouted, frustrated. "How DARE he put in a request like that!? I don't care if he IS my father! He has no right to do that!" 

"I don't think so either, Rinoa, but we can't-" 

"No wonder Irvine's here!" Rinoa added, her eyes narrowed. "How could he!? He didn't even tell me! And SEIFER! Seifer's probably in on it, too!" 

"Rinoa, what are you talking about?" Squall asked. 

Rinoa shook her head and covered her face with her hands. "Irvine and Seifer have been watching me like hawks. Seifer's been really insistent that I don't get involved with you. And then Irvine shows up and gets really concerned when you're mentioned..." 

"Is your father employing them to watch you or something?" Squall asked. 

"Seifer and Irvine have done...some things in the past. They both regret it, but it could ruin them," Rinoa explained. "From what I've managed to piece together, my father is making sure that their records are held secret." 

"I see..." Squall mumbled. *So he's blackmailing them into watching her...I'll have to watch out for those two.* 

"They're not bad people," Rinoa insisted. "I love Seifer and Irvine like my brothers. And I know that they care about me, too." 

Squall let out a sigh. "Just watch out what you do and say in front of them, then." 

"I will," Rinoa whispered. "Squall...I'm sorry if I got you in trouble." 

Squall shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he assured her. He offered her a weak smile. "Just go take your shower. I'll be back from the Speedway later." 

"Okay." Rinoa agreed. She stood up and headed towards her bathroom. Squall leaned back against his chair. He looked over at his bed, where his helmet laid waiting for him. He stood up and grabbed it. 

* * *

Squall stepped out of the locker room dressed in his racing outfit. It was black with dark blue and silver insignias. He had black gloves on as he walked out, holding his helmet in his left hand. The garage they were in was busier than it usually was. Numerous other racers were there on the weekends. 

"There he is!" a female voice shouted above the hustle and bustle of the garage. Squall looked up and saw a beautiful woman waving at him. "There's my little lion!" 

Squall smiled slightly and waved back at the dark haired woman. Her long dark brown hair fell past her waist and ended with a dark red hair tie. She was wearing a short black skirt and black boots with a tight white shirt that had her large breasts almost popping out. 

She was waving him over. "Hello, Tifa. Nice to see you again." 

"Don't be so formal!" she scolded him lightly as she put an arm around his neck and squeezed him. "Congratulations, honey. I heard about the G-14 - FINALLY!" She turned to glare at the blue eyed blond who was cowering behind his motorcycle. "SOMEONE kept forgetting to tell me!" 

"Sorry..." Cloud mumbled as he averted her eyes. 

"Thanks." Squall said calmly. 

She let him go and pointed to a small silver cooler she had brought with her. "I brought you boys lunch from Loveless," the former Racing Beauty Queen told him. "Have some before Tribal eats it all." 

"I am not eating it all!" said the blond who was sitting on a nearby chair, his mouth stuffed with what looked like part of a pie. 

"Right...so the fluffy white stuff on your lip isn't whipped cream?" Tifa said. 

"No!" Zidane gasped, as if appalled that he had been accused of stuffing his face. 

"So you have rabies now or what, monkey boy?" Tifa smirked. Zidane frowned. 

"Thanks, Tifa, but I'm not hungry." Squall said casually. She nodded, understandingly as Tidus snuck behind her and reached into the cooler. He triumphantly pulled out a slice of cake and smiled as he ate it. 

"Oh, Squall, I've been meaning to ask you," Tifa said as she forced Zidane off the chair so she could sit down. The blond grumbled as he was forced to stand. "I heard that Rinoa Caraway is attending your Garden." 

"No way!?" Tidus gasped as he whirled around. "Dude, can you get me her autograph!?" 

"No," Squall stated, rolling his eyes as he looked over his motorcycle. "She does go to Balamb Garden, but I am not getting Tidus an autograph." 

"Why not!?" Tidus whined. "She's only the hottest singer out there! She could use a little more up here - but hey, Tifa over compensates for her." 

"Shut up, you little-" Tifa began, but Squall cut her off with a glare at Tidus. 

"I think her chest size is FINE." Squall hissed in a dangerous voice. 

"So you've actually met her?" Tifa asked. Squall nodded slightly. "How is she like?" 

*She's an energetic person, caring, warm, and friendly. She's loyal and kind and when she smiles...Hyne, when she smiles...* Squall paused as he got on the seat of his bike. "She seems nice." he answered. 

Tidus sighed and leaned against his bike. "That means you haven't really met her," he frowned, disappointed. "There goes my autograph..." 

"Whatever." Squall mumbled. He put his helmet on as the sound of his motorcycle sounded beneath him. Gripping the handles with his gloved hands, he slipped out of the garage and on to the track. 

Cloud stood up from where he was cowering behind his bike and watched as the dark haired member of the team raced away. "You know...he did mention her name a few weeks ago. He denied it was her, though." 

"Oh yeah!" Zidane gasped. "I remember that! He had this far off look on his face. You think he was thinking about her?" 

"It would make sense, wouldn't it?" Cloud asked. "Since she goes to Balamb Garden now, he's probably seen her." 

"Maybe that's the chick he's in love with," Tidus said as he watched the large screen by the track. The cameras were currently focusing on Squall, who was passing the other riders with ease. "And remember that day when he was having women problems?" 

"He has a girlfriend now?" Tifa asked, her brown eyes large with question. "Oh, cute! Has she could around yet? Have you met her? I want to meet her!" 

Cloud chuckled. "We haven't met anyone, Tifa," he told her as he wiped his hands on his worn down suit and headed for the cooler. "We speculate that that he likes someone, but we're not sure if that's his girlfriend or not." 

"Of course he has a girlfriend!" Tifa announced. "Squall is a sweet, intelligent young man with a pretty face and a nice butt. I don't see why the girl he likes would refuse him!" 

Cloud held a half slice of sandwich and looked at Tifa with concern. "You think he has a pretty face and a nice butt?" 

Tifa nodded as if nothing was wrong with it. "All the girls think he has a pretty face and a nice butt. It's so obvious. You've seen him walking around in those tight leather pants," she stated. She smirked slightly and leaned forward. "Are you jealous, Cloud?" 

"No!" the blond retorted proudly. "Why would I be jealous of Squall!?" 

"Because your girlfriend said he has a pretty face and a nice butt." Zidane mumbled as he tossed a napkin into the trash bin. Cloud shot him an annoyed glare. 

Tifa merely chuckled and stood up. She put her arms around Cloud's neck, making the blond blush furiously as her chest was pushed up against him. "No need to be jealous, baby. There is only one racer for me." 

Cloud let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "Good..." 

"And when I find him, I'll tell you, okay?" she grinned. Cloud frowned and the others laughed. 

"Don't tease him, Tifa," Tidus said as he pulled his gloves on. He was wearing his yellow racing uniform with the black and blue patches all over his chest and arms. "You know Cloud has his pick of the ladies." 

"Yeah, unlike two other blondes, I know." Cloud grumbled. Tifa let him go and looked over at the other two. 

"Hey, I'm already in a deep relationship." Zidane replied truthfully. 

"Whipped." Tidus coughed. Zidane shot him a glare and frowned. 

"At least I'm not Yuna's bitch." Zidane mumbled as he passed him. 

"What did you say!?" Tidus gasped. "I am NO ONE'S bitch!" 

"Tidus!" a young woman with short black hair stuck her head out of the office of the garage. "Yuna's on the phone! She wants to talk to you!" 

Zidane burst into fits of laughter as Tidus turned bright red. "Well?" Cloud said as he knelt down to check the tires of his motorcycle. "Are you going to keep her waiting, lap dog?" 

"Shut up!" Tidus pouted and got off his bike. He looked over towards the office. "Forward the call out here, Yuffie! I'll get it!" 

"Sure thing, lap dog!" Yuffie shouted back with a grin. 

"I'm not a lap dog!" he shouted. He walked towards the phone by the work bench and picked up the head set. "Hello, honey muffin...yes, I missed you, too. Kiss kiss..." Tidus had his back turned to the garage as the other three snickered behind him. His voice had all of a sudden gotten ten times sweeter. 

The roar of a motorcycle was heard and Squall slipped back into the garage. He removed his helmet and ran a gloved hand through his thick dark hair. He looked up as he heard Tidus and rolled his eyes. "Yuna?" 

"Yep," Cloud said. "So are you all ready for tomorrow's exhibition run?" He stood back up as Squall got off his bike and nodded. 

"Yes," Squall said. "I haven't performed in front of an audience in a while. It'll be good practice for the G-14." 

"Good idea," Cloud agreed. "The crowds can sometimes be distracting at the G-14. It's best to learn to ignore them." 

"Are you going to invite your girlfriend, Squall?" Tifa asked from her seat. Squall turned to her with a look of confusion. 

"Girlfriend?" he asked. "What are you talking about?" His eyes narrowed. "What have they told you?" 

"They said that you were having girl problems," Tifa replied casually, despite Cloud and Zidane making hand motions to get her to stop behind Squall. She merely ignored them. "I assumed that you have a girlfriend." 

"I don't have a girlfriend." Squall asserted. 

"Oh..." Tifa frowned, somewhat disappointed. "Well, if you ever do, bring her by. I'd love to meet her. She's always welcomed here." 

"You sound like you own the place." Zidane said, rolling his eyes. 

"I think you're forgetting that she does," Cloud said. "She owns half, remember?" 

"Someone had a really big debt at the bar..." Tifa sighed carelessly. "So they paid with their half of the speedway." 

Squall continued to ignore them. Part of him wanted to invite Rinoa to watch him race. He wanted her there to see him. But of course, if he did invite her, the rumors at the Garden would be in full swing and then Cid would have to acknowledge their relationship, therefore retracting the vacation time request for the G-14. 

He let out a tired sigh. *When did this all get so complicated...?* 

"What about you friends from the Garden, Squall?" Tifa was saying as he snapped out of his thoughts. 

"What?" he asked, having not heard part of the question. 

Tifa sat up straight on her chair. "What about your friends from the Garden? Why don't you invite them to watch? That way they know what to expect from you during the G-14." 

Squall narrowed his eyes slightly. *If I invite everyone...that means...* 

* * *

"Are you serious!?" Zell shouted over the phone. "You're not kidding!?" 

Squall held the phone away from his ear as the over enthusiastic blond could be heard shouting over the phone. "I just have extra tickets," Squall said. "And since you guys can't be there for the G-14, someone suggested that I should invite you to the exhibition run tomorrow." 

"Hell yeah!" Zell said. "We'll be there! How close are the seats!?" 

"Close. You can even come into the pit afterwards if you want," Squall explained. Zell let out some more loud shouts. "I'm spending the night here by the track since I have to be here early tomorrow. So just get your tickets at the gate tomorrow morning." 

"Got it!" Zell replied. 

"Ask the others and see whose coming so I can send in the notice," Squall added. "Call me back when you know how many people are coming. And Zell, make sure just to invite close friends and not the entire Garden, all right?" 

"Sure thing!" Zell answered. "I'll call you soon, bye!" The phone hung up and Squall put the phone down on the work bench. 

"So are your friends coming, hon?" Tifa asked in a sisterly manner. Squall shrugged. 

"Maybe." 

The woman sighed and cupped his face in her hands warmly. "Squall, honey, you have to try to be a little more enthusiastic. Aren't you at all excited?" 

"Of course I am." he said as he pulled away from her. He walked around her and she sighed. She watched as he headed towards the locker room. 

"You know he's excited," Cloud said as he finished putting away some tools. "He just doesn't always show it." 

"I guess..." she sighed. Suddenly the phone rang and she turned to pick it up. "Hello?" 

"Hi! May I please speak to Squall Leonhart? This is Zell." 

"Sorry, Zell, but Squall's in the locker room changing right now. Can I take a message?" Tifa asked. 

"Sure, tell him that six of us are coming. Including Seifer, although I didn't really invite him. He just insisted on coming." Zell replied. 

"Six...got it. And their names? We need to put them on the list at the front gate." Tifa told him. She took out a pen and tore off some paper from a note pad that was lying around. 

"Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmit, Quistis Trepe, Irvine...uh...Kinneas, I think... Seifer Almasy, and Rinoa Heartilly," Zell replied. "Do we need to show ID? If so, than put down her name as Rinoa Caraway." 

Tifa smiled and wrote down the names. "No, no...just mention your names at the front gate," she said. "You'll have your passes waiting for you tomorrow morning, promptly at nine." 

"Thank you!" Zell replied. 

"You're welcome. Have a good evening. Bye." Tifa hung up the phone and looked down at the list. She circled Rinoa's name and smirked. 

"Who was that?" Cloud asked as he approached her. She turned around and smiled. 

"Squall's friend," Tifa said with a girl. "It looks like tomorrow will be a very interesting day." 

* * *

"Whoa..." Selphie and Zell chorused as they looked at the massive speedway that laid before them. "I had no idea it was this big..." 

"This is so exciting!" Selphie shouted joyously. "I can't believe we're actually going to go watch Squall race!" 

"You've never seen him race before?" Rinoa asked. She was wearing her usual clothes, as was everyone else. 

Quistis shook her head. "He's always kept it to himself," she mentioned. "This the first time he's offered to let us watch." 

"I think someone made him invite us," Zell said as they walked through the parking lot. There were many people heading towards the front gate, tickets in hand. "He said that someone told him to." 

"Go figure..." Selphie sighed. 

"So where do we get our tickets?" Rinoa asked. 

"He said the front gate," Zell said. He pointed up ahead. "Over there!" 

Zell took off running towards the booth at the front of the speedway. The others shouted and then followed after him. "Rinoa!" Irvine said as he ran next to her. "Don't forget you're still a celebrity. So be careful all right?" 

"Right, right!" Rinoa told him carelessly. They finally caught up with Zell at the front gate where a large black man with a buzz cut was sitting. 

"Hi! We were told to pick up our tickets here!" Zell said as he stood in front of the group. 

"Names?" the man asked. 

"Zell Dincht-" 

"Oh...party of six for Squall Leonhart?" the man asked. Zell nodded. "All right, sign here," He put a clipboard with a carbon copy document on it in front of them. He put a pen on top of it. "I'll get your VIP passes." 

"VIP?" Selphie gasped. "Cool! I've never gotten one before!" 

"That was very kind of Squall..." Quistis said as Zell passed around the clipboard. Everyone signed their names next to where their names were listed. 

"Miss Lockheart, one of the owners, had the order sent in," the man said. He placed six laminated badges on the counter. They were black with their names in silver letters as well as ID numbers and big letters that said VIP watermarked in silver. "If you need anything else, just ask for me, Barret. I'd be happy to help." 

"Thanks!" Zell said. Everyone took their badges and clipped them on. 

"Make sure to keep them on your left breast at all times. Have a good day, guys." Barrette said. He opened the gate for them to go through and the group was ushered in, having the pleasure of bypassing the line. 

"Let's go get our seats," Rinoa smiled. They followed the signs towards a special section that was closed off. They flashed their badges and were let in without question. "This is so exciting!" 

"Irvy, have you been to one of these before?" Selphie asked. 

Irvine nodded. "I've gone to the G-14 several times and some races in Deling City." 

"I hate motorcycle racing." Seifer grumbled. 

"Then why did you come?" Quistis asked, rolling her eyes. 

He extended his arm over her chair and threw her a smirk. "To keep you company, of course." he said coolly. Quistis let out a frustrated sigh and turned her head away. 

Rinoa, Zell, and Selphie were at the edge of their seats. they were practically clinging on to the railing as they looked at the track below. "This thing is huge!" Rinoa said as she eyed the track. "Look at all the people!" 

The crowds were filling the seats all around the track as large screens were on either side of the track. Below them, to their left was the pit. Numerous racers were preparing. There were some already practicing on the track. 

Irvine let out a whistle as he looked down. Walking in front of them was a beautiful woman wearing a red body suit and a black leather racing jacket and heels. She was waving at the crowd. "Tifa Lockheart." 

"Who?" Rinoa asked. 

"Tifa Lockheart is a racing beauty queen," Irvine said. "She owns several race tracks all over the world as well as a chain of bars. She's a famous icon in the racing world." 

"Wow..." Zell mumbled. 

"What about her?" Seifer asked, motioning his chin to some woman who was in a even more exclusive box seat to their left. Irvine looked. 

"Yuna Lesca," Irvine shrugged. "Her father is a big sponsor of the G-14." 

"And whose the girl jumping up and down next to her and waving at you?" Selphie asked suspiciously. 

Irvine tilted his head up and smiled. He waved back. "Rikku, Yuna's cousin." 

"REALLY..." Selphie said, in an almost dangerous voice. Irvine winced and turned to look at her. 

"She's just a friend, really!" he told her as he put an arm around her shoulder. Selphie was about to reply, when she saw someone in the pit. 

"It's Squall!!" she nearly screamed. 

"WHERE!?" Zell and Rinoa shouted. She stood up and pointed to the pit. 

"In the black and blue!" she replied. Rinoa and Zell leaned over the railing and saw the brown haired young man going over his motorcycle with a spiky haired blond. He nodded as he tugged his gloves on. "SQUALL!!!" Selphie shouted. "OVER HERE!!" 

"He can't hear you," Seifer grumbled, rolling his eyes. "The crowd is too loud." 

Tifa however had heard them and smiled. She walked over to the pit and the group watched as she tapped Squall's shoulder. He looked over at her and she pointed to the group in the stands. Squall lifted his eyes and immediately focused on Rinoa. She was leaning against the railing waving enthusiastically. He could make out her mouth letting out the words 'good luck'. 

He raised his hand slightly and gave a subtle wave meant only for her. As Selphie and Zell shouted that he waved back, Rinoa merely smiled thoughtfully. Suddenly, the PA system went off and announced the start of the exhibition run. She sat back in her seat. 

"You ready, Squall?" Cloud asked. The brunette nodded and put his helmet on. "Good luck!" 

Squall gave him the thumbs up sign and left the pit with a graceful movement. As he rode out on the track, he was announced. As soon as it was revealed that it was him, the crowds let loose a ridiculous amount of cheering. Rinoa looked around, noticing that practically every woman in the audience was standing up and screaming for Squall. 

"It looks like he's very popular." Quistis said as she noticed the outcome as well. 

"He is popular," a voice said behind them. They turned and Irvine's mouth dropped. 

"Miss Lockheart!" 

"Call me Tifa," she said with a smile. "You must be Squall's friends that he told me about." 

"You know Squall?" Zell asked with awe. 

She nodded. "You must be Zell. I spoke to you on the phone last night." 

"You spoke to Tifa Lockheart and you didn't tell me!?" Irvine gasped in shock. 

"I didn't know who she was!" Zell replied. 

"I'm glad you were all able to make it," Tifa said. "Squall has numerous fans and admirers, specially since he's made it into the G-14." 

"Squall made it into the G-14?" Irvine said. "That's amazing...no way!" 

"What's the G-14?" Quistis asked. 

"It's a fourteen day motorcycle race through Galbadia," Seifer replied. "It's supposed to be the most grueling motorcycle event in the world." 

"I thought you said you didn't like motorcycle racing." Quistis retorted. Seifer merely shrugged. 

"The G-14 is common knowledge, Quisty." 

"Do you think Squall can win it?" Rinoa asked. Tifa's gaze finally settled on her and she smiled. 

"I think he can," Tifa answered. "Rinoa Caraway?" The other brunette nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you. We heard that you now attended Balamb Garden, but we didn't think that you actually knew Squall," *Well, actually, I did, but the others didn't seem to believe me.* 

Rinoa blushed slightly and nodded. "He's the commander. Everyone knows him." 

"I see," Tifa said. "Well, once the exhibition is over, feel free to come down to the pit." she said with a wink. She headed back down towards the track and Rinoa shifted her attention to the large screen across from them. It showed a man holding a gun raised in the air. 

Suddenly, it went off and the race began. 

* * *

*I will kill Tifa for this...* Squall thought as he sat under a tent, holding a pen as he signed a picture of himself on a motorcycle. *She never mentioned an autograph session...* 

Behind him in the pit, his friends were taking pictures with motorcycles and racing queens. Zell and Irvine seemed to be having the most fun while Selphie was trying to get Quistis to sit on a motorcycle for a picture. Seifer was being forced to hold the camera. 

In front of him was a long line of fans, all waiting for a chance to talk to him and get an autograph. Some waited with cameras to take a picture with him. Behind him, he finally heard Seifer crack. "Quisty, just get on the damn bike already!" 

"Next!" Squall said. He was looking down at the table when a picture was slipped in front of him. He lifted his hand to write his name. "Name?" he asked, bored. 

"Rinoa." 

"Rino..." his voice trailed off as he lifted his head. She smiled warmly at him as she blushed and stood there. A smile reached his lips at the mere sight of her. "Thanks for coming out, Rinoa." 

"It was my pleasure," she said. "I'm a big fan of yours." 

"I'm a big fan of yours, too," he added. He took his pen and wrote her name as neatly as he could, before writing a personal note. "Did you enjoy the exhibition?" 

"It was great. I've never seen one before this close up. And you were amazing. You'll win the G-14 for sure." she told him. Squall smiled and wrote his name on the paper. 

"Did you want to take a picture with me?" he offered quietly. For all the other women, he had been hesitant to. When he had given his autograph to people, it had merely been a scribble that started with an 'S' and ended with a line. It wasn't the note that he had left on hers. 

"That would be great," Rinoa said. She looked over his shoulder. "Selphie! Selphie, can we borrow the camera!" 

The green eyed brunette looked up from what she was doing - taking a picture of Irvine on Squall's bike, and nodded. She told the others to wait for her as she ran over to where they were. "Okay, get behind the table next to Squall!" she said brightly. 

Rinoa walked around the table and knelt down next to where Squall was sitting on a chair. "How's this?" Rinoa asked. 

"Closer!" Selphie insisted. The two of them were a good foot away from each other. Rinoa moved a little closer, but there was still a six in gap between them. "Closer!" 

"Just take the picture!" Rinoa sighed. She had one hand on the edge of the table, keeping her steady. Her other hand dangled at her side. 

Selphie let out a sigh. "Okay...get ready..." Rinoa smiled brightly and suddenly felt another hand brush hers under the table. "One..." She felt herself blush, but didn't allow her smile to falter as warm fingers intertwined with hers. "Two..." His hand squeezed hers gently. "Three!" 

There was a flash and his hand left hers. "Thank you..." she whispered quietly as she stood up. Her legs felt shaky as she gripped the edge of the table to help her up. 

"You're welcome." he said. His eyes locked on to hers as she was slowly led away by Selphie. Her hands held his autograph tightly and she waved as she walked back to the pit. 

* * *

"Did you see that?" Tidus said as he looked over at Yuna. "He was holding her hand! That means they ARE close!" 

"Tidus, if you really want her autograph, why don't you just ask her instead of getting Squall to get it for you?" the multicolored eyed woman sighed tiredly. 

"It's not about that," Tidus said. "I think that Rinoa's the girl he likes!" 

"Well...they were looking at each other for a while..." Yuna mumbled. She smiled slightly. "He's kind of cold sometimes...I think that's great that he finally found someone." 

"Who finally found someone?" a deep voice said behind her. Yuna immediately took a step away from Tidus and turned to smile at her father. 

"Squall, daddy," Yuna said with a smile. "Squall has a girlfriend." 

"Oh really?" Braska asked. "Squall is the brown haired one, right?" 

"Yes, sir, the one that qualified for the G-14." Tidus added. 

"Well, whose the lucky young lady?" 

"Rinoa Caraway." Yuna replied brightly. Braska frowned slightly. 

"General Caraway's daughter?" Braska mumbled. He knew he had seen her wandering around the pit earlier, talking with members of a team sponsored by Strife and Lockheart. 

"They both go to Balamb Garden, sir." Tidus added. 

"Where have I heard of Squall before..." Braska mumbled quietly. 

"He's the Commander at Balamb Garden." Tidus explained. 

"No...that's not where I've heard it..." Braska mused. "He was in a news a while back, I believe..." 

"Oh, during the Esthar elections," Tidus said easily. "Yeah, his father is Laguna Loire. Esthar's president." 

"I see..." Braska said. "Interesting." 

"Did you need something, daddy?" Yuna asked cheerfully. He shook his head and put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. 

"No, I just wanted to remind you that I have to leave tonight. Speaking of General Caraway in Galbadia, I have to attend a meeting there tomorrow about the G-14," Braska said. "So I'll be leaving late tonight." 

Yuna nodded and watched as her father went to speak to Tifa about the exhibition. She turned back to Tidus. "Sorry..." 

"So...when are you going to tell your father about us?" Tidus asked softly. 

"Soon..." she whispered back. 

"I swear...I thought Zidane and Garnet had it bad when they were hooking up," Tidus sighed. "I mean, she's rich, he's butt poor. Everyone was against them...but now they're practically married and her whole family accepts the monkey. But your father has you set to marry some other guy and my old man is encouraging him...it's like a conspiracy against us. Man...no one has it worse than us." 

Rinoa walked past them, behind them, just as she heard Tidus' words. She smirked to herself and shook her head. She slipped his autograph into her purse after she folded in fourths. *You have no idea...* 

* * *

Squall smiled slightly as he looked over the pictures that Selphie had sent them via email. There were a few of him, mostly from far away, in the pit or riding his bike. Some where merely blurs. As he went through the pictures, one by one, he saved the ones with Rinoa. He didn't even realize that she had sat on his motorcycle until he saw a picture of her on it. 

She was smiling and pretending to ride it, even thought it wasn't moving. He hadn't physically seen her in few weeks. With the G-14 approaching, he had spent much of his free time at the track. He would come home late to find her still up, waiting to talk to him online. And she had always understood and assured him that it was okay. 

Her finals were approaching and even she had slowly stopped sending him random messages. She was focused on exams and he encouraged her to do so. He moved on to Selphie's next message and realized that she had forwarded it only to him and Rinoa. He narrowed his eyes and opened the message. 

There wasn't any note, but just one picture. Rinoa was smiling brightly at the camera as she knelt next to him underneath a blue tent. Behind them was the pit where people were scurrying around. He had a slight smile on his face. Squall followed their arms to where they disappeared under the skirted table and smiled. Unconsciously, he squeezed his hand once more. 

He saved the picture on to his lap top when suddenly knocking was heard. "I'll be right there!" he shouted. He closed his laptop and stood up, heading towards the door. It slid open and he frowned as he saw Nida standing there. "What is it?" he asked. 

"Headmaster Cid Kramer requests you at his office immediately." Nida answered simply. 

Squall's eyes narrowed. "Did he tell you why?" Squall asked in a deep voice. Nida shook his head. 

"No, but he said it was urgent." 

Squall nodded. "Tell him I'll be right there." 

"I have to bring you." 

"Why?" 

"Commander...you're under probation." 


	7. Only Memories

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Seven: Only Memories_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** I cannot read any of the new reviews, so I can't reply to any of them. :( So I don't know what you all thought of the last chapter. Did I loose any readers? -_-;; 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"What?" Squall asked, his voice deadly as venom. Nida swallowed hard and took a slight step back. 

"Headmaster has put you on probation," Nida said nervously. Squall opened his mouth to ask why, but Nida held up his hands. "I'm sorry, but I don't know any more. I was just sent to bring you to his office." 

Squall narrowed his eyes and nodded. "All right." he mumbled. He reached over and turned off the lights in his room. Nida stepped back and allowed the seething, yet cold looking commander to step into the hallway. 

The journey to Cid's office was silent and filled with tension. Nida decided it was best not to speak to Squall, as the commander seemed ready to kill at any moment. Part of him wondered what exactly was going on that was getting Squall so angry. When they reached Cid's office, Nida went straight to his door and knocked. 

"Sir, Commander Leonhart is here." Nida said. 

"Let him in. You are dismissed Nida." Cid said in an authoritative voice. Nida nodded and stepped aside. 

Squall walked past him and entered the room. Cid was sitting at his desk, his eyes downcast. Sitting in front of him was a tall man who was oozing out military prowess. He sat on one of the leather chairs and next to him, sat Rinoa. Her head was turned away, her hands clenched over the arms of the chair she sat in. 

"Commander Squall Leonhart reporting." Squall stated coldly as he noticed the tension in the air. 

Cid nodded and motioned his hand to a folding plastic chair to the left of the stern looking man sitting before Cid. As he sat down, he noticed the dark gray uniform that the man wore. The markings on his sleeves and collars identified him as a General. The symbol on his sleeve showed that he was a Galbadian General. Squall immediately realized who that man was - Rinoa's father. 

"Commander this is General Caraway," Cid said in a low voice as he lifted his head to meet Squall's. "He has come today in regards to his daughter, Rinoa Heartilly Caraway." 

Squall turned his head to the man to his right. Caraway gave a subtle nod of his head to acknowledge Squall. "It's an honor to meet you, sir." 

"Likewise." Caraway replied in a deep voice. 

Cid took a deep breath. "Rumors have reached the General in Galbadia," Cid said. "It seems that you and Miss Caraway, despite Garden rules and a personal warning from myself, are involved in some way. The General as come to personally see to this matter." 

"My daughter denies all charges," Caraway told them. "However, knowing her, she is lying for the sake of protecting you. As a highly regarded SeeD that Headmaster Kramer has assured me that you are, I will ask you. Please answer truthfully. Are you and my daughter romantically involved?" 

Squall stiffened. His eyes took on an icy cold look as he glanced over at Rinoa. Her dark bangs shielded her face from him as she turned her head away. Squall looked over at the General. "I can honestly say that at this moment, your daughter and I are not involved romantically. At the most, she is my student and a friend of a friend and colleague." Squall answered. 

Cid let out a heavy sigh and was about to open his mouth, when Caraway continued to speak. "I have heard from the mouth of a very respectable man that you and Rinoa are seeing each other. I fail to see how and why he would lie about such a topic." 

Squall's eyes narrowed slightly. "With all due respect sir, I would like to know the source of his account." 

"His daughter claims that you two are involved. She saw you with my daughter at the Balamb Speedway." Caraway answered. 

Rinoa felt her blood turn to ice in her veins as she heard that. *What...who would've said that!? Who saw us!?* 

"Commander, were you with Miss Caraway at the speedway?" Cid asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. 

Squall took a deep breath and opened his mouth. "It's not LIKE that!" Rinoa cut in. All three sets of eyes looked over at her. "The Commander has said it before - we have the same friends. He invited them to watch him race and I tagged a long. You can even ask Seifer and Irvine!" 

"And what were you doing tagging along?" Caraway asked his daughter. Rinoa sat up straight in her chair and met her father's steady gaze. 

"I wanted to go hang out with my friends," she stated simply. "Is that such a crime, FATHER?" 

"I did invite a group of friends to attend the exhibition run a few weeks ago," Squall admitted. "However, I was not aware that Miss Caraway would join them." 

"Headmaster, please let in Seifer Almasy and Irvine Kinneas." Caraway said, ignoring the two teens and looking directly at Cid. The headmaster nodded and pressed a button on his phone. 

"Send in Almasy and Kinneas," Cid said. Within moments, the door opened and two tall young men walked in. Both carried solemn looks on their face as they stood at the door. "I'm sorry I don't have seats for you two," Cid told them honestly. "Please bare with us." 

Seifer nodded his head and Irvine's keen eyes shifted from Rinoa to Squall. When he had seen Seifer waiting in the lobby before Cid's office just moments earlier, he knew something was up involving Rinoa. However, he never expected General Caraway to actually be physically there, in the same room. His presence never ceased to make him nervous and now was no exception. 

"Why did you want to see us, sir?" Irvine asked as calmly and respectfully as he could. 

"He called you in because I wanted to speak to you," Caraway said. He kept his back rigid and turned to the two men behind him. "A few weeks ago, did you two go to the Speedway here in Balamb with Rinoa?" 

Cid looked up a them and nodded subtly. "Yes, sir, we did." Irvine replied. 

"Our friends were invited and so we went along with them." Seifer added. 

"And was there any contact between Rinoa and Commander Leonhart?" Caraway persisted. The two exchanged glances. 

"Yes, sir," Irvine said. Rinoa mentally swore and closed her eyes. "I believe she asked him for his autograph at one point." 

"Other than that, there was no other contact." Seifer continued. Rinoa glanced up at them. 

"What about her stay here? Has there been any sort of romantic involvement between my daughter and Commander Leonhart?" Caraway asked. 

"None that we could discern, sir," Irvine answered, sounding extremely convincing. "We have followed your orders and saw to it that Rinoa has been kept out of any sort of romantic engagement." 

Caraway opened his mouth to speak, but Rinoa shot up from her chair. "So you DID send Irvine and Seifer to be my watch dogs!" she gasped. Her eyes were narrowed as her hands turned into fists at her sides. "WHY? I wasn't doing anything wrong!" 

"Sit down," Caraway ordered in a deep voice. "You know very well why I sent them to watch you. Do you think I want to see you stalked out of Balamb Garden as well? It's best that you abstain from that sort of relationship at this point and time!" 

Rinoa remained standing and stood over her father, glaring daggers at him. "What in the world made you think that I would be stalked again!?" Rinoa gasped. "I'm perfectly safe here at the Garden! That's why you sent me here in the first place!" 

"I was only concerned-" 

"About what!?" Rinoa shouted furiously. 

Caraway kept his eyes focused at the window, past where Cid was sitting. "I see enrolling you here was a mistake." he suddenly said. His voice was much too calm for the situation. 

Rinoa's eyes went wide. "WHAT?" she asked in a partially disgusted voice. "What do you mean by that?" 

"Irvine, assist Rinoa to her room. Help her pack her things. She's leaving. Today." Caraway stated. Rinoa gasped as Cid sat up straight. Squall sat on his chair, a cold look on his face. 

Irvine and Seifer immediately turned to look at Rinoa as she fumed next to her father. "General Caraway, are you sure about this?" Cid asked nervously. 

"Don't worry, Headmaster, I will pay her tuition until the end of the year in full," Caraway replied. "From now on, I'll just have Rinoa home schooled." 

"What!? NO!" Rinoa screamed. "No! My finals are next week! How can you drag me out like this!?" 

"I'll arrange for the rest of her things to be picked up at the end of the week," General Caraway continued, as if Rinoa weren't yelling next to him. "I'm sorry to had to have bothered you like this, Headmaster." 

"Don't ignore me!" Rinoa shouted. "You can't do this!" 

"Rinoa, let's go." Irvine said. He reached out and grabbed her wrist. 

"Let me go, Irvine!" Rinoa growled. Irvine looked up into her eyes and saw a flash of light go through her brown orbs. His eyes immediately darted away as he pulled his hand back. 

"Rinoa, go pack your things," General Caraway stated coolly as he stood up. "Headmaster, I trust that Commander Leonhart will be properly dealt with." 

Cid closed his eyes and nodded as he stood up, signaling the official end to the meeting. "Yes, General. Thank you for your generosity." 

"What generosity!?" Rinoa shouted. "What the hell is wrong with you!? What the hell are you so afraid of!?" 

"I will meet you in the limo outside," Caraway told Irvine as he turned around. He didn't give Rinoa a second look. "Just bring the things she can carry. The rest will be picked up." 

Irvine nodded. "Yes, sir." 

"Almasy, you're free to stay," Caraway said, turning to the blond. Seifer nodded, but kept his eyes diverted. "Good luck with your studies." 

"Thank you, sir." Seifer mumbled. Caraway walked out of the room with a casual grace, as if Rinoa wasn't in tears. Seifer's green eyes turned to Rinoa. Clear, heavy drops were sliding down her flushed cheeks as she crumpled back into her chair. 

"I'll see the General out." Cid said nervously, quickly standing up and going around his desk. He squeezed past Rinoa and Irvine and out the door. 

It closed behind him. "He knew all along..." Rinoa sobbed uncontrollably. "That bastard...he never believed me..." 

"Rinoa, you were lying," Irvine said. "We all were. Hell, even the headmaster knew and was lying through his teeth." 

"Squall, I'm so sorry..." Rinoa whispered. Her head lifted up to look at him. Squall just sat there numbly, his eyes looking away from her. "I'm so sorry..." 

"Cid said that if I broke the rules, my request for time off for the G-14 would be retracted," Squall said in a low, monotone voice. "I'm on probation now." 

Rinoa's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Hyne..." she whispered. "You...you can't go... I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." 

Squall stood up, a cold look on his face. Rinoa's heart stopped as he strode towards her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her up to face him. Suddenly, his arms were around her, holding her against him as Irvine and Seifer looked on. "Don't be sorry..." he whispered. "There is always next year. I don't regret anything." 

Rinoa closed her eyes. Her arms went around his body tightly. She didn't care that Seifer and Irvine were in the same room as them. They already knew anyway. She buried her face in his chest, inhaling his scent as the soft material of his leather jacket caressed her face. Just for a moment, with his arms around her, she forgot where she was. However, that feeling soon fled. 

"Rinoa..." Irvine's voice said, almost hesitantly. "We have to go...your father is waiting." 

Rinoa nodded slightly as Squall slowly let her go. He looked down at her, engraving her face into his memory before she vanished. His hands rose and cupped her face. He gently wiped her tears away. "I'll see you again..." he whispered softly. 

"Squall..." she whispered back softly. Irvine put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her away from Squall. 

"Seifer, can you take Rinoa to her room. I'll be right out." Irvine said. 

Silently Seifer nodded and took Rinoa's hand. He pulled her out the door as her face looked back at Squall, full of longing and regret. She stumbled out behind him. Squall closed his eyes. "Why did you lie?" he asked Irvine. 

The cowboy looked over at him and shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know," Irvine admitted. "Maybe we didn't want to get in trouble. Then again, maybe we didn't want to see Rinoa go through all of that." 

"What's going to happen to her now?" Squall asked. 

"Caraway's going to keep her on lock down," Irvine said. "She'll be home schooled. She'll probably only be let out to go do recordings and performances, but he'll send someone to watch her at all times," Squall nodded and Irvine looked at him. "I like you, man. I think that under different circumstances, you and Rin would've been perfect for each other. I've never seen her as happy as she was when she was thinking about or near you." 

"Then why is her father so against us being involved?" Squall asked. 

Irvine looked away. "It's not that it's you in particular...but any man in general. He's very protect of Rinoa. He doesn't want her to be with a man like that." 

"He's taking it too far." 

"With Rinoa, it might not be..." Irvine mumbled. Squall narrowed his eyes. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Forget it," Irvine said. He took a deep breath and smiled at Squall. "Listen... I'll keep an eye on her for you, you know. Keep away the vultures. But don't worry... she won't forget about you. At least not for a long time." 

Squall didn't reply as Irvine turned around and headed out the door. Irvine rushed to Rinoa's room and was about to turn the corner when he ran into someone. "Hey, Irvy! What's the rush?" 

"Selphie..." Irvine said softly. A small smile graced his face as he looked at her. She tilted her head to the side, slightly confused as to why he was looking at her so intently. 

"What is it?" 

Irvine smiled and bent over, pulling the petite brunette into a warm hug. "I'm going to miss you the most..." 

"What?" Selphie asked, confused. He let her go hesitantly and kissed her softly. "Irvine...? What's going on?" 

"I have to go back to Galbadia with Rin," Irvine said, a sad look in his eyes. "I'm sorry it's such short notice." 

"Wait, WHY?" Selphie said. Irvine was trying to get around her, but Selphie was quickly blocking his way. "Why are you two going back?" 

"They were caught Selphie," Irvine sighed. Selphie was about try to feign ignorance, but Irvine shook his head. "You know who," he stated. "Her father heard from someone that they were involved and came to get her." 

"Oh no..." Selphie whispered. She brought her hand to her mouth and shook her head. "But..." 

"All of us denied it," Irvine added. "But her father didn't believe us." 

"What about Squall?" Selphie gasped. 

"He's on probation," Irvine replied. "He's not going to the G-14 any more. Selphie... I didn't want this to happen to them. I love Rinoa like a sister and she's really hurt." 

Selphie nodded. "Don't worry," she told him with determination. "Everything will be all right, Irvy...we'll help them." 

Irvine winked and smiled. "I knew I could count on you." 

"She's ready to go." a deep voice said behind them. They turned and saw Seifer standing there, with Rinoa in front of him. 

She was holding a duffel bag, her lap top case, and purse. Selphie ran up to Rinoa and gave her a big hug. "Don't worry, Rin...I'll watch Squall for you." 

Rinoa closed her eyes and hugged Selphie back. "Thank you..." she sniffled slightly. She pulled away and offered a smile. "Don't look so sad...it'll all work out." 

Selphie nodded and stepped aside as Irvine and Seifer seemed to switch and Irvine began to escort Rinoa back. Seifer stood where he was. "Rin," he said suddenly. The dark haired girl turned around and looked back at him. "I'll slice puberty boy in half if he cheats on you." 

Rinoa felt her lower lip tremble as she smiled and nodded. "Thanks..." she said. Irvine smirked and lead Rinoa to the elevator. They stepped in and Rinoa clutched her things tightly. 

When they walked out, the corridor suddenly seemed crowded and their path to the front doors were lined with students. They were all whispering among themselves and looking at her. Rinoa held her head up and took a deep breath. "Let's go." Irvine mumbled. 

She nodded and followed behind him. Her footsteps sounded in the empty halls as she passed the students. Zell waved at her weakly, not really understanding why she was leaving. Quistis was by the door way, standing next to Squall with a concerned look on her face. 

"Rinoa-" the blond began as she took a step forward. Rinoa merely smiled. 

"Thank you for all your help, Instructor," Rinoa said warmly. "I'll study hard." 

Quistis watched as Rinoa walked past her. She stopped in front of Squall and turned to face him. She extended her hand. Squall carried an unreadable expression on his face as he raised his hand and shook hers. He felt something against the palm of his hand and glanced down quickly. 

A small piece of paper was being slipped into his sleeve by Rinoa's hand. When it was securely in place, she removed her hand from his and bowed her head in apology. Squall watched as she stood up straight and met his eyes for the last time. *I love you, too...* his mind replied as he read the expression in her eyes. 

Irvine tugged at Rinoa's other hand and pulled her away. The doors were opened as she walked outside. Cid was standing by the limo and looked away as Rinoa walked down the steps. She paused as she reached the last step and looked over the limo. She squinted her eyes as she looked over at the parking lot. It had been a clear night when they first met. 

He had almost killed her then, she realized. A thoughtful look went over her face as Irvine put his hands on her shoulders and helped her into the limo. She was seated in the back seat, her father sitting on one of the seats to her left. Irvine had put her things into the trunk of the limo before climbing in after her. 

He sat down to her left side, coming in from the other side of the vehicle. The engine started up and Rinoa looked out the tinted window to her right. Selphie, Quistis, and Zell were on the top steps waving at her as they carried sad looks. She looked past them and saw Seifer sulking with Raijin and Fujin. She was about to smile, slightly amused by his expression, when she saw him. 

Squall walked down to the last step and stood next to Cid. She raised her hand and pressed it against the glass. The limo began to move away and she turned her head and then her body to keep her eyes on him. He grew smaller as the limo pulled out of the Garden. 

"Did you tell him?" Caraway asked, cutting through Rinoa's thoughts. 

She turned slowly and set her narrowed eyes on her father. She gritted her teeth as her hands balled into fists. "I wish I did." 

* * *

Cid paced in front of Squall in his office. He didn't know what to say. Squall was sitting on the chair in front of him, in the exact same spot where Rinoa had been sitting earlier. Now he sat there, slumped to one side with his eyes glazed over. "Squall-" 

"You knew all along," Squall said suddenly. Cid stopped and looked over at the young commander. Squall lifted his head to meet Cid's look. "You knew about me and Rinoa. Why did you deny it?" 

Cid took a deep breath and sat back in his chair tiredly. "You are the best SeeD this Garden has, Squall," Cid told him truthfully. "I couldn't bring myself to punish you. And I know you've been working towards the Galbadia-14 for years, I didn't want to take that from you so suddenly." 

"So I suppose taking it from me slow and steadily was better?" Squall spat out bitterly. 

"You KNEW what you were getting yourself into," Cid replied. "And yet you still persisted. This is the first rule you've ever broken! Why? Do you really love her? You're seventeen, Squall - not even eighteen yet! How do you know you love her!?" 

"I just do," Squall said as he shot up from his seat. Cid jerked his head back. "I don't care about the time off or the probation. I broke the rule so I'll take the punishment." 

"Until further notice, you are suspended from your duties here at the Garden," Cid said. "You will have no training room time and your pay will be held." 

Squall turned his head away sharply. "Whatever." 

"You do realize that this means you cannot participate in the Galbadia-14..." Cid added. Squall nodded. 

"There'll be other years," Squall said in a low voice as he headed for the door. "I only have once chance with her..." he mumbled. 

"Squall!" Cid shouted. Squall grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it open. "We're not through here, Squall! SQUALL!" 

He slammed the door and stomped outside. Cid's secretary and faculty members who were passing by turned their heads as Squall stormed past them. "Squall, are you okay?" Zell said as Squall passed. 

Squall didn't reply and Zell frowned. "Leave him alone," Quistis said behind him. "He just needs to be alone right now." 

The brunette didn't bother waiting for the elevators. Instead, he headed for the stairs and ran up several flights of stairs to the floor his room was on. He burst from the stair well and made a beeline for his room. As soon as he entered the sliding doors he threw off his jacket and slammed his fist into the nearest wall. 

The dull, throbbing pain shot through his arm as his fist made contact with the hard wall. He paid no attention to it as he leaned against it heavily. His shoulders heaved up and down as he breathing grew shallower. When the first sob escaped him, he finally realized he was crying. 

Salty bitter tears rimmed his eyes and slowly slid down his cheeks as he turned his back and leaned against the wall. He slid down the side of the wall and sat down, leaning forward tiredly as if life had left him. It might as well had. Rinoa was gone. The G-14 was gone. Even his job was non existent. *What the fuck is going on?* he asked himself as he leaned his head back. "When did I loose everything?" he whispered. 

He raised his hand up to wipe his face when he realized that he had been gripping something the whole time. He looked down at his hand and opened his palm. *Rinoa's note...* With shaking hands he unfolded the crumpled piece of paper. 

_I love you._

It was so simple, it hurt. Squall stared at the paper and read it a hundred times over. He lifted his head and looked up. He saw his laptop on his desk and slowly crawled over to it. He put the note next to some papers and sat on his chair. 

As if afraid to be burned, he lifted the screen of the laptop up and tapped his finger on the touch pad. The screen came to life and he looked into her eyes once more. The picture he had been admiring no less than a few hours earlier was still up on his desktop. Her beautiful smile looked back at him, giving him a comforting warmth. 

His eyes narrowed slightly as he raised his hand to trace the outline of her face on the screen. 

* * *

Rinoa looked across from her. Her father was sleeping on the train ride back to Deling City. Sitting next to her, leaning against side of the private cabin, Irvine slept. She looked out the window thoughtfully. She could see her reflection in the glass. 

Her eyes were still red from her earlier fit of tears. Slowly her eyes settled on the reflection of the chain around her neck. Her slender fingers followed the chain and pulled it out from under her shirt. Two silver rings dangled together on the thin necklace. 

She wrapped her fingers wrapped around the cold metal and she closed her eyes. She pressed the precious objects against her chest. Squall had just lost his chance to the one race that would forever define him in the world of motorsports. And it was her fault. 

She opened her palm and looked down at the lion engraved ring. It immediately reminded her of the heavy necklace that Squall always wore. It would rest steadily on his chest no matter what he did. She could still remember how it felt to have her arms wrapped around him. She could almost feel the beating of his heart against hers as they raced back to the Garden on his motorcycle. 

She remembered the moment she first saw the machine barreling towards her. Her heart almost burst in her chest as she fell to the side from the sheer shock of nearly getting hit by it. She recalled the concern she felt as she realized that the driver had taken a worse spill and was even bleeding. 

Yet regardless of his wound, he had still stopped to help her search for her ring. The look of boyish satisfaction was on his face as he found the object by a car. And when he turned to face her, giving her a good look at his face, her breath was stolen. 

He was easily the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. His blue eyes captivated her as he lifted her ring and held it out. She looked back down at the rings on her chain once more. *It was like he was asking me to marry him...* Rinoa thought to herself. *And it felt so right...* 

Unbeknownst to her, Irvine was awake. He studied her from underneath his cowboy hat. He noticed her stare at the rings around her neck and narrowed his eyes. He only recalled her having ONE ring - her mother's. Where had she gotten the other one? He tried to get a better look at it, but Rinoa lifted them up and tucked them back under her shirt. 

"Are you okay?" Irvine whispered. Rinoa nodded, almost emotionlessly. She closed her eyes tightly and wished desperately to be dreaming. 

He watched as she reached into one of her bags and pulled out notebook. There was a mechanical pencil stuck in it's pages and she pulled it out as she opened it. When she did, something slipped out. Rinoa paused and slowly lifted the item up. Irvine couldn't see, since Rinoa held the notebook's sides up, keeping the item hidden from view. 

Rinoa put the picture back into her notebook and stared at it. Selphie had just given it to her the night before. It was the only copy of that picture that Selphie had made. Rinoa smiled to herself. 

Had the camera been able to see through the dark skirt of the table, it would've captured their intertwined hands under the table. She blushed at the memory and looked over Squall's face. He had a rare, but pleased smile on his face as he sat up in his chair with her next to him. *Did he regret anything?* she asked herself. His face said no. 

"What are you writing?" Irvine asked. 

"A song," Rinoa said as she turned the page to hide the picture. She lifted the mechanical pencil and began to write on the note book. "Irvine..." 

"Yeah?" 

"Thanks." 

"For what?" he asked confused. Rinoa turned to look at him and smiled. 

"For being a good friend." 

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" a voice screeched over the phone. Squall pulled his cellular phone away from his ear as a furious Tifa yelled into the phone. Behind her, he could barely make out Cloud's voice begging her to calm down. "NO, I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" 

"Just give me the phone, Tifa-" Cloud pleaded. Squall could almost see them climbing over each other to get to the phone while Tidus and Zidane did their best to stay out of it. 

"Not until I get this straightened out!" Tifa announced. "Squall, are you still listening?" 

"Yes-" 

"I'm going to come to the Garden RIGHT NOW and talk this over with your boss... what's his name?" Tifa asked. 

"Headmaster Cid Kramer," Squall sighed. "Don't bother, Tifa. He as every right to do this-" 

"He as no proof!" Tifa stated. "Why should you be punished? There is no proof that you're guilty!" 

"But I AM guilty." 

"Don't tell me that! What if they ask me to testify!?" Tifa shouted. Squall took a deep breath and tried to relax. 

"Just please send in the retraction notice," Squall sighed. "I can't go." 

"Then just quit and go!" Tifa gasped, as if it were such an easy choice. "You've been dreaming of this since you got your bike, Squall. Don't throw it all away." 

"But I've trained my entire life to be a SeeD, Tifa," Squall insisted. "I can't just throw away a life's work. Besides, I can always try again next year." 

He heard her let out a heavy sigh on the other line. "Please don't do this," Tifa pleaded calmly. "What if you don't make it next year? Or the year after that? You won't always have next year to make it. And if you win, you'll be set for life. You wouldn't need to work at the Garden any more." 

"I broke the rules," Squall insisted. "I fell in love with Rinoa and tried to see her despite the fact we were told not to. I'm glad I did and I don't regret it, so I'll deal with the punishment." 

"That's very gallant of you, honey, but please, just think this over." Tifa continued to plead. 

Squall was laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He shook his head. "I've made my decision..." he said. "And I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to go to the track in a while. I'm under house arrest for another week." 

"Oh, Hyne..." Tifa sighed. She closed her eyes and ran her hand down her face. "All right. But I won't submit the retraction notice for a while. Just in case you change your mind." 

"I won't," Squall insisted. "Thanks." 

"Bye..." The phone went silent and Squall slowly put it down next to him. He reached over and blindly hit the clock radio next to his bed with his hand. After a few tries, he managed to hit one of the buttons and music sounded. He frowned as he realized that the station was playing a slow ballad, but didn't bother changing it. 

The song ended eventually as Squall laid there. The DJ's voice went on suddenly. "That was the piano solo from Rinoa Caraway's first album, _Angel Wing_. Call now for two front row and back stage passes to her spring concert in Deling City! Caller 92 and a friend will be flown to Deling City, attend the concert and meet Rinoa in person! All expenses paid! Call now and good luck!" 

Squall grumbled and rolled over, turning his back to the radio. He couldn't escape her. Every thought was saturated with Rinoa. Now, even the radio was mocking him. It was saying that two total strangers would get to personally meet the woman he loved while he himself couldn't. 

He couldn't even call her. When he tried, he found that her phone had been disconnected. Her father probably had it done. He had checked for any emails from her religiously in the mornings, but found that none awaited him from her. Only spam and Selphie's joke of the day emails. 

Once, in desperation, he had attempted to connect to her computer, but found that he couldn't find her. All contact between them had been cut off. The only way he could see her was through old photos and things he found in the media about her. 

"Caller 92! Congratulations! You're going to see Rinoa in concert in Deling City!" the DJ shouted all of a sudden. 

"No way!? Are you serious!?" a deep voice said. "Yes!" 

"Are you excited!?" The DJ asked. 

"Hell yeah! She's so hot!" 

Squall's hand flew over the clock radio and shut it off. He needed to get away. He felt so trapped in the last week. *But I'm on house arrest...* he thought to himself. He sat up and looked over at the unused motorcycle helmet hanging off the bed post. He narrowed his eyes and stood up. *Screw it...what do I have to loose?* 

He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and put it on quickly before grabbed his keys and the helmet. His doors slid open and he walked outside. He looked around, making sure that no one was around. The sun was just about to set. 

Just as Squall turned the corner to get to the stairs, he ran into someone larger than him. "Watch where you're going, puberty boy!" an all to familiar voice snorted. 

*I do NOT need this right now...* Squall thought to himself. He looked up and saw Seifer looming over him with Raijin and Fujin behind him. "Get out of my way." 

"You're under house arrest," Seifer said coolly. "Where do you think you're going?" 

"Out." 

"No you don't." Squall narrowed his eyes. He was at his breaking point already and now Seifer wanted to push him to the limit, too? Hell no. 

Squall grabbed Seifer's jacket's collar with one arm and shoved him aside. Seifer narrowed his eyes and ran up to Squall. He shoved the dark haired boy back and Squall fell against Raijin. "Hey! Watch it, ya know!" 

A crack was heard and a small phone fell from Squall's jacket. It slid across the floor. Squall wasn't paying attention and pulled away from Raijin. He ran forward, dropping his helmet and punched Seifer. 

"Oh my Hyne!" a voice shouted behind them. "Stop it immediately!" 

Seifer reached out for Squall and slammed his foot down as he stepped forward. It was then that they realized that Seifer had just crushed Squall's cellular phone. Seifer was smirking as he rubbed his jaw with one of his hands. Squall lunged forward, only to be held back by Raijin and Fujin. 

Quistis suddenly appeared, running between the two males. Selphie and Zell were running after her and arrived. "What's going on!?" Zell gasped. 

"Squall, your phone!" Selphie gasped. She pushed Seifer out of the way and picked up the broken flip phone. 

"Seifer, what did you do!?" Quistis demanded angrily as she stood in front of him. 

"Don't ask me, ask puberty boy there," Seifer said arrogantly. "He shoved me first. He was trying to escape." 

"Squall, is this true?" Quistis asked, turning around to face the blue eyed brunette. Squall merely turned his head away as Raijin and Fujin let go. He tugged his jacket on straight and reached down to grab his helmet. "Squall!" 

"Just leave me alone." Squall hissed. 

"Squall, wait!" Selphie said. She ran past the group and towards Squall, who was still making his way to the elevator. "Here!" she said, taking out her sleek silver phone. "Take my phone." 

"Get out of my way, Selphie-" 

"Squall, PLEASE," Selphie pleaded. "Just in case you're in an accident or something, just bring this with you!" She looked up at him with large green eyes. "And keep it on. Just answer the phone if someone calls and say you're using my phone. That's all I ask. Just bring it with you." 

Quistis watched as Squall hesitated. "Just take her phone, Squall," Quistis said. "If Cid is looking for you, we'll call. Just take it in case something happens and we won't mention a word of this to Cid." 

His black gloved hand wrapped around the small phone with the yellow star dangling from it's top. He slipped it into his pocket and Selphie let out a heavy sigh of relief. Squall walked past her and pulled open the door to the stair well and disappeared within it. 

Quistis turned to Seifer. "Are you okay?" 

"He didn't have to hit me..." Seifer mumbled as he rubbed his jaw. 

"Well, you did break his phone..." Zell said as he looked over the broken pieces. "How are we going to get this replaced...?" 

* * *

"Irvine! What are you doing here?" General Caraway asked as he walked up the steps to the Caraway mansion and saw the cowboy standing at the door, about to knock. 

"Just visiting, sir," Irvine said. "I thought I'd drop by and see how she's doing." 

"She's still sulking for no reason," Caraway said. "She's such a stubborn girl. Perhaps you can cheer her up." 

Irvine nodded and looked at the man oddly as he was let in. General Caraway was such an enigma to him. The man was a powerful general, respected and feared all over Gaia. He cared about his daughter but to such an extreme as to rip her away from all she held dear. One moment he was ignoring Rinoa, the next he was worried that she wasn't eating enough. *He's suffocating her...* 

When he entered the foyer, he heard the sound of a piano being played. "She's been playing that song for days..." Caraway grumbled. "Rinoa! Play something else!" He shouted as he walked into the piano room, followed by Irvine. 

He found her sitting on the piano bench, her fingers playing a song that he'd never heard before. Laying next to the bench was Rinoa's dog, Angelo, who seemed to be sleeping. Rinoa herself ignored her father as she concentrated on playing the music. 

"Rinoa...?" Irvine asked softly. "Hey, Rin..." 

Her hands landed heavily on the piano keys and stopped. Angelo perked her head up and wagged her tail as she saw Irvine approaching. Rinoa turned around and saw Irvine. He smiled at her and slowly approached her, as if approaching a wounded animal. 

"Hi, Irvine..." 

"Hey..." he said. "You know, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by. How are you feeling?" 

Rinoa opened her mouth, but no answer came out. Her face turned away slowly. "I've been writing a song..." she whispered softly. Irvine nodded subtly. 

"Uh...sir," Irvine said as he turned around to look at the General, who was having the curtains in the dark room opened. "Would it be all right if I took Rinoa out for a few hours? Just a drive around. Nothing special. Just so she could get some fresh air?" 

"I don't want to go out," Rinoa said numbly. "I want to finish the song." 

"Is that all right, sir?" Irvine asked, ignoring Rinoa. 

"Just have her back by her curfew, Irvine," the General said. "And I trust that there will be no other party?" 

"No, sir. Just us," Irvine assured him. The General nodded and Irvine turned to Rinoa. "Okay, Rin. Let's hop in my car. Where do you want to go?" 

"I want to finish the song." Rinoa insisted. 

Irvine's eyes squinted slightly. "Rinoa...you have to go out sometime. Come on, I'll buy you ice cream..." 

"No..." 

"How about the beach?" Irvine asked casually. "You like the ocean, right? Why don't we go there? You can bring your note book and finish your song there." 

Rinoa thought about it for a moment and nodded. Irvine let out a sigh of relief. He was really starting to worry about her sanity. Within a few minutes, they were out the door and in his car. He drove out of the mansion's drive way and out of the city. They headed towards the ocean and Irvine looked at his watch. 

Rinoa was silent the entire way there. Her eyes were focused directly ahead of them as her hands clutched her blue note book with a pencil pinned between the covers. Every time Irvine tried to talk to her, she would merely nod or answer with one word. After two hours, he gave up. 

The sun had already set when they reached the sea shore. The air was salty and crisp as a cool wind blew threw the area. Irvine parked his car as close to beach as possible and then got out. He opened the door for Rinoa and allowed her to step out, dressed in a light blue sun dress and white sweater and sandals. 

"I can't write in the dark." she stated simply. 

Irvine sighed and took the book from her hands. "Then just to put your feet in the water," he said. "Here," he added as he dug into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. "Why don't you call Selphie and tell her hi? She probably misses you." 

Rinoa nodded slightly and took the phone without question. She began to walk out into the shore. Soft sand fell into her white sandals as she walked towards the water. She lifted the silver phone and began to go through Irvine's phone book. She smiled slightly. *He sure has a lot of girls' phone numbers in here...* Finally, she found Selphie's cell phone number and pressed dial. 

* * *

The darkness covered him as he rode a lone road along the sea shore. As he turned the corner, the tires gripping the asphalt road below him, he could almost feel her arms around his waist once more as she pointed out into the sea. His hands tightened around the handles as he sped up. 

The street lights had long since become few and far between when he finally came to a stop. Squall parked his bike by the guard rail, underneath a street lamp. He tore off his helmet and hung it on the bike's handle before he jumped over the railing and headed towards the ocean. 

He could hear the crashing waves against the tan sand as his black boots dug themselves into it. *It's so dark...* he thought to himself as he looked out into the horizon. The sky seemed to melt into the ocean. 

He stood there, on the wet packed sand, just a few feet from the rising tide. He didn't feel like getting wet. All he could hear was the water. 

That was quickly shattered by the sound of a polyphonic ring tone cutting through his thoughts. Squall frowned and reached into his pocket, taking out Selphie's phone. Without another thought, he opened it. 

"Selphie's letting me borrow her phone," Squall said. "Can you call back later?" Then, all time seemed to stop as a sweet voice answered him. 

"Squall?" The voice sounded confused, yet hopeful at the same time. "It's me." 


	8. The Secret Revealed

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Eight: _The Secret Revealed  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** I can finally read reviews. Thank you guys so much!!! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I know some things are predictable, but I hope I'm giving you enough suspense and stuff. Thank you for all the positive encouragement, it's very much appreciated!! I'm still listening to Hikaru Utada ballads, the last chapter I spent listening to the piano version of "First Love" and this chapter I'm listening to "Final Distance". 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"It's me..." the voice said again. Her words got caught in her throat as she stood by the water, the waves nearly lapping at her toes. "Rinoa..." 

The phone almost fell from his hands as he closed his eyes. It was her voice. He couldn't believe it, it just had to be a sort of joke. Slowly, his fingers tightened around the small device and kept it pressed against his ear. The thundering sound of the waves crashing against the beach was suddenly drowned out. *Is it really you...?* his thoughts whispered. 

"Squall?" her voice asked, a hint of desperation in them. "Squall are you there?" 

"Yes, I'm here..." he trailed off, still believing that he was dreaming. "Rinoa...Hyne, is it really you?" 

"Yes..." Rinoa whimpered. She closed her eyes tightly as she stopped by the water's edge. When she opened them, they were moist and rimming with tears. "I can hear you..." 

*I miss you...tell her that...* his mind ordered. Squall opened his mouth to speak, but only managed to blurb out incoherent dribble. "Rinoa...I... Hyne...dreaming..." 

On the other end of the line, Rinoa bit her lip and smiled slightly. "I miss you, too..." she answered softly. 

Squall let out a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm really talking to you... Part of me thinks it's some sort of joke...Like a dream where I'll wake up and realize this never happened." 

"It's no dream..." Rinoa said. She looked over her shoulder and saw Irvine leaning against the side of his car. A sly smirk was over his lips as he gave her a thumbs up. "It's more of an elaborate plan." 

"How so?" Squall asked. 

Rinoa giggled slightly. "Irvine came to visit me today and took me out... then he said to call Selphie's phone to say hi and I did..." 

"Seifer broke my phone...and then Selphie and Quistis made me take Selphie's phone in case of an emergency..." Squall's blue eyes went wide as he suddenly realized what had happened. "Hyne...they planned this..." 

"We have excellent friends, Squall," Rinoa chuckled. She crouched down by the water and reached out one hand to touch the cold, salty waves. She took a deep breath and smiled slightly. "How are you doing?" 

"I'm miserable," Squall spat out simply. "You're not here, how else could I be?" 

Rinoa closed her eyes and smiled. "What a coincidence...I'm miserable, too..." 

"I can't stop thinking about you," Squall whispered. "And just when I think I have, I hear your song on the radio. And all I think about is you again." 

"What about...you know...your punishment?" Rinoa asked in a low voice. She could sense him hesitate on the line and held her breath. "Are you okay?" 

"I sent in my retraction forms to pull out of the G-14." he stated. 

Rinoa closed her eyes tightly as a pained look went over her face. "Squall, I'm sor-" 

"What did I tell you?" he scolded softly, hiding a hint of amusement. "I don't regret anything. There will be other years...when you can be there, cheering me on...and no one will think it's wrong and stop us." 

She let out a breathy whimper. "I want to be with you now," she said softly. "I want to see you." 

"I want to see you, too..." he said. "Watching a music video is a poor substitute for the real thing." 

"I've gotten you into so much trouble..." 

Squall chuckled slightly and took a step into the water. The icy waves lapped at the toes of his boots as he looked down. "Tifa isn't too happy with me either. She demanded that I re-think pulling out of the G-14. But I said I'd take the punishment because I do love you." 

"Don't take a punishment to prove you love me, Squall," Rinoa said. "I don't want to cause you any more pain." 

"Holding you in my arms for one second is more pleasure than all the pain that this will ever give me," Squall told her. Rinoa blushed at the sound of insistence in his voice. "So don't ever say that you're sorry for anything. Because I'm not." 

"I just wish it didn't end up this way..." Rinoa said. 

"Rinoa," Squall replied softly. "It hasn't ended yet." 

Rinoa smiled slightly as clear tears slowly began to trail down her face. "I just miss you so much..." 

"I miss you, too...I've been so worried about you," Squall said. "Are you all right? Is everything okay?" 

Rinoa nodded to herself. "My father got me a tutor...the only people who visits is Irvine and my manager. I'm trying to finish a song for my next album." 

"Just work hard, Rin," Squall answered. "Work hard and one day we'll be together again." 

"But I want us to be together now..." 

"I do, too..." Squall said. He looked out into the ocean. "So...are you at home?" 

"No, Irvine took me to the beach," Rinoa replied. "Are you under house arrest?" 

Squall smirked. "I'm supposed to be." 

"Supposed to be?" 

"I'm at the beach, too...I just needed to get out for a while," Squall said with a smile. He looked out into the water. "Are you by the water?" 

"Yes..." Rinoa said, still crouching down. Squall knelt down into the water and touched the waves. 

"Touch the sea." 

"Why...?" Rinoa asked quietly. 

"Just touch it." 

Rinoa narrowed her eyes slightly and put her hand into the water. She jerked it back quickly. "It's cold." 

"Are you touching it?" Squall chuckled. Rinoa sighed slightly and put her hand into the water. She wiggled her fingers around. 

"Yes..." 

"So am I..." Squall said. "This ocean goes all the way around the world, Rin...the same water you're touching, I'm touching." 

Rinoa closed her eyes tightly and swallowed. "Am I touching you, Squall?" 

"Yes..." Squall said softly. He looked out into the horizon as the cool breeze swept over his body. A warm, intently look graced his face as his hand stayed steadily in the water. "I'm with you now." 

Rinoa let out a muffled sob as she opened her eyes. She looked out towards the ocean as the salt air pierced her eyes. He was out there, somewhere. He was far, across an entire sea, but he was touching her, connected to her by frigid salt water that lapped at her ankles. 

Squall was content with the silence as he looked up at the sky. Rinoa was out there and was thinking of him. For a moment, they were together again. He smiled slightly and a stream of light cut through the obsidian, diamond speckled sky. 

"Did you see that?" she gasped on the line. 

Squall nodded. "Yeah..." he said. "Rinoa..." 

"Yes?" 

"I love you..." 

* * *

"You're going to pay for this you know," Irvine said as they pulled into the boarders of Deling City. "Someone has to pay for it and since you caused it, it's going to be you." 

Rinoa sighed and rolled her eyes. Irvine smiled inwardly as she started acting like her usual self. "I said I'm sorry, Irvine. And I WILL pay for it." 

"You owe me big..." Irvine said. "I was THIS close to just making you stay in the trunk." 

"But you're such a sweet and wonderful man that you let me sit in the car anyway?" Rinoa asked, smiling sweetly. Irvine sighed. 

"What can I say? I'm just a sucker for a pretty face," he sighed. Rinoa laughed and Irvine smiled. "I'm glad to hear you laugh again, though... it's been a while." 

"Was I really that bad?" Rinoa asked with a slight frown. 

"You had me really worried for a while..." Irvine said. "You were in that room for hours, playing the piano...in the DARK. It was kind of freaky." 

"Thank you, Irvine...you have no idea what this means to me." 

"Yeah, well thanks to you, I'm going to get charged for using minutes over my limit and probably roaming charges...just great..." Irvine grumbled. "You should pay for those, too." 

"I'm so happy right now, I'm going to take you up on that and pay." Rinoa said with a bright smile. 

Irvine glanced over at her with a strange look. "What did he tell you anyway? Did he ask you to marry him or something?" 

"No!" Rinoa blushed furiously. She looked down at her hands on her damp lap. "He said he loves me." 

"Well, big surprise there," Irvine said, rolling his eyes. "You were on the phone for a good three hours...your father's going to kill me." 

"We're here before my curfew," Rinoa insisted. "Don't worry." 

"You're soaking wet!" Irvine gasped. "It's like there was a down pour in my car. Now that you're sitting there, there was!" 

Rinoa sighed. On her giddy high, she had actually began to play in the ocean while laughing with Squall later in their conversation. It was then that Irvine had to rush over and call her in, scolding her about getting sick and ruining the interior of his precious car. 

But was too late. Rinoa had been waist deep in cold sea water and Irvine was shouting from the shore. If Squall hadn't told her to go back before she got sick, she would've stayed at the beach forever. Rinoa wore a large smile on her face as she stretched her arms back over her head. 

"But, seriously, Irvine...thank you," Rinoa said solemnly. "I really miss him." 

"I know," Irvine replied. "Selphie keeps saying that Squall was locking himself in his room and ignoring everyone...they figured he'd break the rules and go out on his bike sometime." 

"How'd you know that he'd take Selphie's phone?" Rinoa asked. 

"Never underestimate the planning abilities of Irvine Kinneas!" Irvine stated. Rinoa gave him a look of disbelief and he sighed. "Okay, Quistis planned it out. I don't know how, but she was able to get Seifer to break Squall's phone and then Selphie was going to make Squall take hers. It worked out really well." 

"And how do you know that he'd do it today and take me out?" 

"They text messaged me." 

"Oh." 

"I was going to take you out anyway, but when I got to your place, I got the message." Irvine said. 

"And what about the beach? How did you know that Squall was going there?" 

Irvine grinned. "That wasn't planned," he said as they pulled into the Caraway estate. "Maybe it was fate." 

Rinoa smiled and looked thoughtful. "Yeah..." 

"Anyway, when we get in there, try not to look so happy," Irvine sighed. "Your father will think something's up." 

"Got it," Rinoa said. She took a deep breath and clutched her book against her still damp chest. They car stopped in front of the mansion and Irvine went around the other side of the car to open Rinoa's door for her. "Um... do you think we can...?" 

Irvine nodded. "As soon as he sneaks out again, they'll tell me and we'll go out." 

"Thanks." 

"Uh...Rin..." 

"Yeah?" 

"I'll have the bill for the car and phone sent to you." 

* * *

"I'm coming!" Selphie yawned tiredly as she stretched her lower back. She walked towards the sliding door of her room, her hair displaced and her yellow pajamas with sunflowers wrinkled. She reached her door and allowed it slide open. "Squall!?" she gasped out. She unconsciously rubbed her eyes. 

"Your phone." Squall stated as he handed her the sleek silver object. 

Selphie's eyes went wide and she took it gingerly. She looked up at Squall. "Did she-" 

"Good night, Selphie." Squall said before she could finish. He turned around and Selphie ran in front of him. 

"Wait, wait!" Selphie said. "Did she call?" she asked eagerly. 

Squall's blue eyes settled on her green ones as his lips were set in a tight line. "Did who call?" 

Immediately, Selphie's hopeful eyes lost all their sparkle as she assumed that their plan had failed miserably. "Oh..." she mumbled quietly. "Never mind..." she said. 

Slowly, she walked past him, heading back to her room with her shoulders slumped and her head drooped. Squall smirked slightly and began to walk away from her. "By the way...I may have gone over the minutes in your plan," Squall said coolly as he walked away. "You know how she loves to talk." 

Selphie's eyes went wide and she whirled around. Squall was turning the corner and disappeared around it before Selphie could say another word. The perky brunette jumped into the air and ran into her room. 

She flipped open her phone and checked the list of calls received. Selphie's mouth turned into a wide smile as she read who had called her last. *Irvy's Cell...* 

* * *

"So it worked?" Quistis asked as they sat around in one of the hidden study rooms in the library. "You're positive that it worked?" 

"Why else would he have said he went over my minutes?" Selphie sighed. "Of COURSE it worked!" 

"Did you call Irvine just to make sure?" Quistis insisted. Selphie shook her head. 

"I tried, but he hasn't picked up. But I did leave him a message on his voice mail." Selphie asserted. 

"When do you think he'll call back?" Zell asked. He was sitting across from Quistis and Selphie on some small couch. 

Selphie was just about to open her mouth when her phone rang. A familiar ring tone echoed in her ears. "It's Irvy!" she said cheerfully as she pulled out the silver object. "Hello? Selphie here!" she said as she held it close to her ear. 

"Hey, where's Squall, anyway?" Zell asked Quistis. The tall blond shrugged. 

"I don't know," Quistis said. "He hasn't been at his office for days and I didn't see him at the cafeteria for breakfast." 

"I didn't see him there at lunch either," Zell frowned. His usual lunch break consisted of two hours at the cafeteria. "I wonder if he snuck out again." 

"No, we would've gotten a call from Seifer, Raijin, or Fujin." Quistis asserted. 

"Really? When?" Selphie was saying. She waved her hand to get the attention of the two blondes in the room with her. They looked over and Selphie was leaning forward, her eyes wide. "Right...right...okay. We'll find him! What time? Okay, sounds good! Thanks, Irvy!" Selphie blushed. "I miss you, too..." 

Quistis rolled her eyes. "Selphie..." 

"I have to go! We have to go find Squall!" Selphie said. "Bye!" She closed the phone and looked over at the other two. "Irvine said that Rinoa's starting music video tonight at sunset. She should be done around one am." 

"That gives us enough time to find Squall," Quistis said, looking at her watch. It was around four in the afternoon. "The only question is where is he..." 

"So is he going to use Selphie's phone again?" Zell asked. "Because the guy at the cell phone store said that it'll take a while to get a replacement phone for Squall." 

"He can use mine," Selphie said as she stood up off her chair. "I have unlimited nights and weekends." 

"Do we have to sneak him out again?" Zell continued to ask as he and Quistis followed the brunette. 

"We have to," Quistis asserted. "Anyone could easily overhear him talking to her on the phone and report it to Cid. It's best that we get him out of the Garden and to a more secluded place where he can speak to her in private." 

"It's up to him to decide where to go," Selphie said. They walked over to the door and opened it to exit. "We just have to find him and..." her voice trailed off as they turned the corner and found the brunette sprawled across one of the couches in the upper loft, reading a book. "That was easy..." 

Quistis sighed and walked over to Squall. "Squall," she said. She moved in close as the brunette laid there, seemingly ignoring them. "Squall, are you awake?" She peaked over the book he was reading and realized he was wearing headphones. She could make out the thin black cord that went from his ears to a small silver object on his stomach. 

The book lowered and Squall raised his blue eyes up to meet Quistis'. He gave her a questioning look but didn't say a word. Selphie came up behind him. "Squall," she said in an excited low voice. "The angel has flown the cloud..." she winked. 

Squall narrowed his eyes. He lifted his left hand and removed the ear pieces from his ears. "What?" 

"The Angel," Selphie repeated earnestly. "Has flown the cloud. The LION," she pointed at him. "Should pursue." 

Squall stared at Selphie as if the girl were crazy and slowly turned to look at Quistis. "What is she talking about?" 

Quistis rolled her eyes. She held her hand out in front of Selphie. "Phone," she stated. Selphie dug into her pocket and handed her the sleek silver phone. Squall's eyes studied it warily. "Lucky for you, Selphie has free nights and weekends," Quistis said, holding the phone over Squall's face. "But just in case, I'd start calling around ONE in the morning... when the weekend already started..." 

Squall's eyes went wide, immediately realizing what they were trying to say. His hand flew up and snatched the phone. "Thanks," Squall said. He looked around as he shoved it into a pocket within his leather jacket. "I'll get right on that." 

"You might want to FIND A PLACE to get good reception," Zell added casually. "I swear, the reception at the Garden has gone downhill lately." 

Squall nodded understandingly and closed the book his was reading. He looked at his watch and realized he had plenty of time to devise a plan to sneak out. "Thank you for the phone," Squall said. "I appreciate it." 

The trio nodded and smiled as he stood up and put the book on the couch. They followed him with their eyes as he walked around the loft and headed for the stairs. As soon as he disappeared, Selphie fell back on the couch and let out a tired sigh. "Now what?" 

"Now we have to make sure he can 'flee the cloud' as you say, and not get caught," Quistis said as she leaned against the arm of the couch. She reached down and picked up the book that Squall was reading. "Hmmm..." 

"What is it?" Zell asked. Quistis closed the book and showed them the front cover. 

Selphie sat up straight to read the embossed gold lettering on the maroon bound book. She frowned slightly. "Chronicles of the Galbadia 14..." 

"There's got to be a way to get him to go," Zell said sadly. "It's not fair! He worked so hard for it. And you saw how he was on the track that day! He was flying!" 

"What can we do, Zell?" Selphie sighed. "I mean, it's one thing to help him with Rin, but we don't know where to start on the whole G-14 thing." 

"I'm sure Squall has other years to pursue it," Quistis said as she flipped through the book. "Maybe even next year. By then, he and Rin might not be stuck where they are now and she could be there when he races." 

"I guess..." Selphie pouted. "But still..." 

"You know, Squall doesn't regret anything," Zell said. "I think he thinks it's worth it." 

Selphie giggled. "It's like something you'd read in a romance novel!" 

"Yeah..." Quistis added. "Let's just hope this novel has a happy ending." 

* * *

"Rinoa, lean against the side of the railing! But be careful!" the director shouted as they stood on the top of a tall building in Deling City. "Right there! Perfect!" 

Rinoa had both her hands on the railing that looked down over the brightly lit city before her. At past midnight, high up on a building with the wind going over her, she was freezing her butt off. To make things worse, her costume was thin white dress. It reached her ankles, but it still had quite a draft. 

Irvine was standing to one side of the make-up crew playing the role of body guard once more. As the music started up and echoed in his ears, he put his hand in his pocket, wrapping his fingers around his phone just in case it began to vibrate, signaling that Squall was calling. 

Rinoa opened her mouth and began to sing along with the song, looking out earnestly over the city. Her eyes were filled with emotion as she followed the director's instructions. The wind swept past them, blowing her hair past her face, but she didn't fidget. Her eyes kept looking out towards the city. 

It was the last day of shooting the music video. So far, Squall had called every single night on their way back from the video shoot. Because Irvine had to take Rinoa home afterwards, as sternly ordered by her father, their conversations had been short and to the point. Rinoa must've also felt that it was somewhat uncomfortable as Irvine was there while she was talking, meaning she had no privacy. 

Regardless of the all too short conversations, Squall had diligently snuck out every night for the past four days just to hear her voice. In a way, Irvine admired his devotion and was very happy to see Rinoa smiling more often. 

"All right! That's it!" the director called out. Irvine snapped back into attention as all around him, the crew members all began to scatter and clean up. Rinoa walked towards him and waved. 

"I'm going to go change real quick!" she said. Irvine nodded as Rinoa walked past him into the small portable dressing room that had been brought up to the roof specifically for the purpose of allowing Rinoa to change in privacy. 

As the crew packed up the lights, microphones, cameras, and other pieces of equipment, Irvine heard the faint sound of his phone. He quickly dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He read the name of the caller. *Selphie Cell...* "Hello?" he said, bringing the phone to his ear. 

"Irvine, is Rinoa there?" Squall asked. 

"She's in the changing room," Irvine reported. "We just wrapped up the video. Can you give her a few minutes?" 

"I'll call back in ten." Squall replied. The line went dead and Irvine looked at the phone. It was exactly one in the morning. 

*Man...he's punctual...* he thought to himself. He waited a few more minutes before Rinoa returned. She was wearing a fluffy light blue jacket over a black turtle neck and jeans. "Ready?" 

"Ready!" she said. They headed into the building and then went towards the elevator. "Hey, did he call?" she asked as soon as they were inside the privacy of the elevator. 

Irvine nodded. "You were in the changing room. He said he'd call you in ten minutes." 

"Okay!" Rinoa said brightly. A wide smile was on her lips and she had found herself unable to take it off. Her heart was already starting to beat rapidly just thinking about him. 

Irvine glanced down at her and smiled slightly. She seemed so happy. He hadn't seen her like that since...since ever. "Excited?" 

"Of course!" Rinoa exclaimed. "Thanks so much, Irvine!" She suddenly threw her arms around him and gave him a hug. "You're the bestest friend ever!" 

Irvine laughed and hugged her back. "Right...you say that now, but the moment you go home, you'll tell Angelo the same thing." 

"Ah...you're right." Rinoa giggled. She let him go as the elevator stopped. They waited for a moment and then the doors slid open. 

Rinoa's smile immediately left her face as she saw who was standing in the lobby waiting for her. Her blood turned to ice in her veins as the man who was waiting for her turned and saw her. Irvine's eyes went wide and he looked over at Rinoa. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently lead her out into the lobby. "It's okay..." He whispered in her ear. 

"There you two are." a deep voice said. Rinoa stiffened and narrowed her eyes. 

"General," Irvine said as the military man reached them. "This is quite a surprise." 

"Yes, well, I was in the neighborhood-" 

"At one in the morning?" Rinoa asked bitterly. "Drop the act. Why are you here?" 

The General looked at his daughter. "Picking you up," he stated. "Now, get in the limo. Irvine, thank you for your help-" 

"But...uh...sir, we were going to grab a snack afterwards!" Irvine stammered as the General reached out and grabbed Rinoa's arm. 

"Some other time, Irvine! Thank you for playing Rinoa's body guard these last for days. It's been very much appreciated." Caraway said. 

"Let me go!" Rinoa said as she tried to pull away. "I can get to the limo by myself!" 

Caraway reluctantly let her go and Rinoa turned to Irvine with a worried look. "Uh...it's not a problem, sir..." Irvine said. "I'll take care of everything if Rinoa needs a body guard again." he said. He gave Rinoa a look that assured her that he would talk to Squall about the situation. 

She wanted to run from her father. She wanted to grab Irvine, get in his car, and tell him to drive her back to the beach. But if she so much as showed that she wanted to go with Irvine, her father would suspect something. After all, after he took her to the beach, her attitude had changed somewhat. She couldn't afford to get Irvine, and perhaps herself, Squall, and the others back at the Garden in trouble in one selfish act. 

"There's no need for that," Caraway replied. "It's all been taken care of." 

"Taken care of?" Rinoa asked, whirling around to glare at her father. "What are you talking about?" 

"Irvine need not concern himself with being your body guard from now on," Caraway answered, obviously pleased with himself. "He has his own life and job. It would be selfish to force him be your body guard, even if he is your friend." 

"Sir, it's really no problem," Irvine insisted. "Like you said, Rinoa is my friend. It's no trouble-" 

"Non-sense!" Caraway said with a wave of his hand. "I've already hired another body guard for Rinoa." 

* * *

Squall sat on the hard packed sand, facing the water as the night sea breeze swept through his unruly brown hair. In his hands, he gently cradled Selphie's phone. She had so many phone chains hanging from it they easily made up the same weight as the phone itself. He moved the object around in his hands and stopped when it's front faced him. The time on the digital clock said that it had been ten minutes since he first called. 

He began to press re-dial, when the phone's screen began to flash and he realized he was receiving an incoming call. The caller was Irvine and he eagerly picked up the phone. "Hello?" he asked, slightly excited. 

He heard someone sigh heavily on the other line. "Squall," Irvine said reluctantly. "We have a problem." 

"Irvine?" Squall asked, his eyes narrowed. "What's wrong? Is Rinoa okay?" 

Irvine was sitting in the driver's seat of his car as he sat in the underground parking lot of the building. He ran his hand down his face. "Rinoa's fine...but it looks like we might have trouble with your little phone calls from now on." 

"Did her father find out?" 

"No," Irvine said. "But Rinoa got a new bodyguard. And unlike ME, he'll probably report everything to her father." 

Squall mentally swore and closed his eyes. "I see..." 

"Look, man, I'm really sorry," Irvine said. "But I'll try to keep this up." 

Squall sighed heavily. "Thanks...bye." He looked down at the phone as he brought it down from his head. With a shaking hand he pressed a button and ended the call. 

* * *

"YOU were the one who said it!?" Tifa growled viciously. She nearly flew over Cloud as she lunged at Tidus. "I'm going to kick your ass!!!" 

"I'm sorry!!" Tidus shouted as he cowered behind Zidane. "We were just talking! I didn't see any harm in it!" 

"You didn't even know for sure that they were together and you went and told Yuna's father!? You KNOW he has a lot of connections in Galbadia!" Tifa shrieked. Cloud had his arms around her waist, keeping her from clawing at Tidus' face. "We lost our ONE member whose going to the G-14 because of your big mouth!" 

"I didn't mean to!" Tidus wailed. "I swear it! It's just that they seemed kind of close. He even held her hand-" 

"But you don't go around tell people that they're together like that!" Tifa yelled back. 

"Tifa, it isn't his fault. How was he supposed to know that Yuna's father would tell Rinoa's father? It was an accident." Cloud insisted. He finally succeeded in calming Tifa as the busty brunette stepped back. 

She took a deep breath and ran her hand down her face. "Fine, but how the hell are we going to remedy this? It's already too late to fix that problem, anyway. Rinoa's father already pulled her out of school and fat chance he's going to let her go back just because Tidus admits he did something stupid." 

"Don't worry about it," Tidus said cheerfully. "After you told me what happened, I wanted to fix it so I called Yuna-" 

"Oh, geez..." Tifa sighed. "Yuna cannot fix all your problems, Tidus," Tifa grumbled. "You are such a cry baby!" 

"I am not!" Tidus said. "Just listen to what I have to say!" 

"You make it hard to since everything that comes out of your mouth ends up getting someone in trouble and screwing over the rest of us." Zidane replied casually. Tidus shot him a glare and Cloud walked up to them and held up his hands. 

"All right, CHILDREN," he insisted. "Let's hear what he has to say first." 

"Thank you, Cloud." Tidus said. 

"It better not be stupid." Cloud added. Tidus frowned. 

"ANYWAY," he began. "After I explained it to her, she said she'd try to fix it. So she contacted someone. It's an old body guard of hers and an old friend of my father and her father. He's an old fart sometimes, but-" 

"Get to the point." Tifa hissed. 

"She heard that General Caraway, Rinoa's father, was looking for a new body guard for Rinoa so she asked him to apply." Tidus ended. He smiled brightly and the other three looked at him strangely. 

"Okay...so, this would help HOW?" Tifa asked, narrowing her eyes. 

Tidus smiled and paused. "Um..." *Damn...how did this work...* "Let me get back to you on that." 

Zidane just shook his head and started up his motorcycle. "Sometimes I wonder if you ever open your mouth with something relevant to say." 

* * *

Rinoa woke up, her eyes sore from crying the night before. She rolled out of bed and headed towards her bathroom to change. Within moments, she was walking down the stairs to get breakfast. She was dressed in overalls and a T-shirt. Angelo walked down the steps behind her. 

As she reached foyer, she saw her father talking to a tall man in a dark maroon suit. He had sunglasses perched at the tip of his nose and one of his eyes seemed to be constantly squinted. His hair was graying and Rinoa felt that he looked a bit scary. 

"Rinoa! Good morning!" General Caraway said. She winced as she heard her father's voice and nodded her head as she walked down the rest of the stairs. "Rinoa, this is Auron, he's going to be your new body guard!" 

Rinoa nodded numbly and stretched out her hand to shake his. "Good morning, sir." she mumbled. 

Auron smirked slightly and shook her hand. "Are you all right?" 

"Yes..." she said in a dull voice. *Someone kill me...* 

"All right! Auron, please familiarize yourself with Rinoa's schedule. I trust that she will be safe in your hands." With that, Rinoa's father left them in the foyer. Auron slowly looked at Rinoa, who was sulking. 

"I'm going to eat breakfast..." she mumbled. "Sorry about all of this..." 

"There's nothing to be sorry about," he told her in a deep, stern voice. "May I ask what happened to your previous body guard?" 

"He was technically my best friend," Rinoa said as they entered the dining hall. She sat at the head of the table as the maids rushed around her to bring her food. "So I never really had real one." 

"I see," he said. He stood behind her, looming over her like a shadow. She silently wished that he would ease off a bit. "By the way, Miss Caraway-" 

"Rinoa is fine." 

"Yes, Rinoa," he said. He dug through his suit and took out an envelope. "My former employer's daughter is a big fan of yours and when she found out that I was to be your new body guard, she asked if I could give this to you personally. I hope you don't mind." 

"Not at all..." Rinoa took a sip of her tea and glanced over. She took the envelope from his hands and put her tea cup down. She opened it and pulled out a letter. As she read it, her eyes narrowed and a slow smile drew on her face. Slowly, she folded up the letter and slipped it back into the envelope. 

"Mr. Auron," she said with a bright smile. "I think we're going to get along just fine." 

* * *

The G-14 was in one week and Squall stared blankly at the calendar by his desk. The date had been circled twice with red marker and even filled in with a yellow high lighter during one of his bored moments. Now, it was nothing more than a date to him. 

He was sitting on his desk, no longer on house arrest, but still under probation. He had to be back at certain times now. He looked at his laptop at the smiling face of Rinoa on his screen. He got another instant message from Zell, who was trying to cheer him up. 

Squall was about to type a response, when another message box popped up. He narrowed his eyes. He didn't recognize the sender, but read the message anyway. 

_Call this number...I'll be waiting at the beach in an hour for your call._

*Rinoa?* he thought to himself. Half of him was in disbelief. It had been so long since she contacted him online and part of him didn't believe that it was her. Regardless, he grabbed his keys and helmet and ran out of the room. 

He ran straight to Selphie's room and knocked on her door. Silently, he prayed that she was in there and that it wasn't just a joke that someone was playing. If it was, he would find them and hurt them. 

"Selphie's in the training room," Quistis said as she approached him. He had a frantic look on his face. "What's wrong?" 

"I need to borrow her phone!" he said. 

Quistis looked at her wrist watch. "She won't be out for another hour-" Squall mentally swore as he ran down the hall. Quistis barely had time to turn her head and call towards him. "Hey!" It was too late, Squall had already turned the corner and Quistis sighed. She took out her own phone and looked at it. "You could've borrowed mine..." 

Squall raced down the stairs, being too impatient to wait for the elevator. He shot down the corridor, almost hitting the wall as he turned a corner. He saw the doors to the training room up ahead and dug through his pocket to look for his key card. He pulled it out as he slid to a stop. 

"No..." he mumbled as he slid his card through. Red letters popped up that said that his card was under suspension and was therefore not allowed to go into the room. He tried again, in vain. He let out a deep breath as he lifted his balled fists and pounded against the door. "Selphie!" he shouted. 

His pounding died down as he realized she couldn't hear him. He leaned against the door heavily and lifted his first to hit the door once more. "No, I don't know where he is..." a deep voice said. Squall narrowed his eyes and turned his head. "I have a session in the training room right now. I don't have time to...yes, of course I care about you... yes, I know I owe you...listen-I just can't find him right now." 

Seifer turned the corner, Hyperion slung over his shoulder as he casually walked down the hall, holding a cellular phone to his ear. Squall groaned and pushed himself off the wall. He straightened his jacket and Seifer stopped and stared at him. "What?" Squall hissed. 

"Never mind, baby, I think just found him," Seifer said. "Puberty boy, Quistis is looking for you. She says you can use her phone." 

Squall's eyes lit up as he realized what he was saying. "Where is she?" he demanded. 

"Baby, where are you?" Seifer asked on the phone. He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll stop calling you that...sexy." 

Immediately Squall heard Quistis yelling at Seifer. "Never mind! I'll find her myself!" 

"Hey, wait a second," Seifer called. Squall was already running up the hall. Seifer sighed. "She said she'd meet us here..." 

Squall headed towards the elevators, planning to go back to where he had last seen Quistis. As soon as he got into one elevator, the one next it opened and Quistis walked out. Just as she did, Seifer turned the corner. "Where is he?" she said, closing her phone as soon as she saw him. 

"Don't know," he shrugged. "He said he'd find you himself." 

Quistis sighed. "Men..." she muttered. 

Upstairs, the doors opened and Squall ran out, running into Raijin. "Oh, Squall! Glad to see you, ya know-" 

"Can't talk. Have you see Quistis?" Squall asked. 

"Quistis? No, not today, ya know-" 

"Thanks, bye!" Squall ran past the tall man before he could say another word. 

"Squall!" Raijin sighed. He shook his head. "Fujin, just got back with your new cellular phone, ya know..." 

Squall was already halfway down the hall when he said that and didn't hear it. *I NEED to get a phone!* his mind screamed. He mentally cursed Seifer for having ruined his phone in the first place. *I should've made him give me his...* 

"Squall." a voice called as he looked around the hallway. He turned around and saw Fujin walking towards him. 

"Not now, Fujin, I'm looking for Quistis." he stated. 

Fujin shook her head and lifted up a bag. "Phone." she said. 

"Phone?" Squall asked. His eyes went wide. "MY phone?" 

"Affirmative." she nodded. 

She handed him the bag and he tore through it. Finally, he pulled out a black phone similar to his. "Does it have the same number?" 

"Affirmative," she said. "Phonebook same." 

"Thanks, Fujin!" Squall said. He opened the flip phone and headed to the elevator. On the way out, he ran into Raijin, who asked if Fujin found him. Then he ran into Zell, who wanted to know if he was okay because he wasn't answering his messages. Then Seifer and Quistis intercepted him. 

By the time he was riding out of the Garden, twenty minutes had passed. He mentally swore as his bike took on the lone road out of the Garden. His hands gripped the handles tightly as he sped up. 

* * *

Rinoa sat on a rock on a jetty as the waves crashed at her feet. At the start of jetty, her new body guard kept watch. The sun was starting to set and Rinoa looked down at Auron's phone. She couldn't believe her luck. Her new body guard was more trusted than Irvine AND knew about her and Squall. 

She silently thanked whoever Yuna and Tidus were for their assistance, although the letter had explained that it was their fault in the first place. Regardless, she took what she could get. Suddenly the phone sounded to life and Rinoa opened it. "Hello!?" she gasped out breathlessly. 

"Rin?" a breathy voice rasped from the other end. 

From where he was, Squall leaned against the guard rail by the side of the road. Behind him, the sea roared. He dropped his helmet on the ground as he slid into a sitting position with his legs stretched out in front of him. His hair was damp with sweat and he ran his leather gloved hand through it. 

"Squall?" Rinoa asked in a whimper. 

Squall tiled his head back as the breeze went past him, cooling him after he had rushed to get away from the Garden. "Yeah..." he breathed. "Miss me?" 

"Of course I have!" she gasped. Squall chuckled. "I cried all last night when I thought I couldn't talk to you again!" 

"One day, we can talk to each other without it having to be a secret..." he whispered intently. "Loving you should not be a secret." 

"Secret..." Rinoa said in a soft voice. She looked down at her feet nervously. She hated that word. She had carried a secret her entire life and because of it, her father had torn her away from the man she loved. "Squall... you love me right?" she asked in a soft voice. 

"Yes," Squall stated. "I love you, Rinoa. Nothing will change that." 

Rinoa closed her eyes. "What if I did something horrible?" she asked quietly. *What if I AM something horrible?* 

Squall narrowed his eyes, concerned. Her tone had suddenly turned nervous. As if she was afraid of something. "Rinoa," he said as he leaned forward slightly. "What's wrong?" She didn't reply. "Are you all right? Rinoa?" 

"I'm here," she said, shaking herself out of her thoughts. "What if...what if something happened and I did something terrible, but I had no control over it...would you still love me?" 

"You know I would," Squall asserted. "No matter what. Rinoa...what's going on? What's wrong?" 

Rinoa closed her eyes tightly and rubbed them with her free hand. "Squall, I have a secret..." Her father's voice echoed in her head. Scolding her and reminding her what was on the line. Her career. Her friends. Her entire life would be gone. 

_This world will kill all sorceresses. They FEAR them. They are DANGEROUS. No matter how well loved you might be now, the moment you tell them that you're a sorceress, they'll put you away. They'll hunt you down and won't rest until you're dead. Do you understand? No one will ever love you if you tell them!_

She had been told that since she was a child. Since they first discovered that she was a sorceress. *He's lying...* Rinoa told herself like she had many times over. *Irvine knows. Seifer knows. They love me...Squall will love me.* 

"Rinoa?" Squall asked quietly to see if she was still on the line. Rinoa opened her tearful eyes and swallowed. Her heart was racing as her palms suddenly began damp with sweat. She took a deep breath. 

"I'm a sorceress." 


	9. Taking Action

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Nine: Taking Action_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** Wow! So many have read the story! I'm so happy!! ^_^ Thank you x infinity!! I really appreciate all the encouraging and kind words. It really makes me write and I hope you guys enjoy what put up. I hope everything is still making sense after this and that it's not getting too predictable. Of course, it probably will... 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

According to what Squall had been trained to do since he first entered the Garden, he would, as a mercenary, be hired to fight in conscripted armies, be sent to eliminate threats, be sent in case of natural disasters, but also bring down any sorceresses that might arise during his time as a SeeD. 

While they were of human bodies, they were still extremely powerful and able to defend themselves well. It had taken thousands of people to eliminate a sorceress a generation before them. They were put into chambers in Esthar where they could be watched and sealed away with the best security in the world. They were dangerous. Evil. 

And she was one of them. He could hear her raspy voice on the line. Rinoa's breathing was growing unsteady and he could sense the nervousness piling up. On the other side, Rinoa was starting to shake as fear gripped her body. Had she been wrong? Had she over estimated him? 

"Squall?" she pleaded quietly. "Squall, please say something..." she begged, on the verge of tears. 

Squall sat on the side of the road, unsure of how to react. He took a deep breath. "Is this...a joke?" he asked. 

Rinoa closed her eyes let out a breathy sob. "No!" she cried out loudly, earning the attention of Auron, who was still at the start of the jetty. He looked over to make sure she was okay, but didn't move from his spot. "Why would I lie about something like that!?" 

*Shit, she's serious...* Squall's mind said. He could hear her crying on the other side. "Rinoa...calm down-" 

"I didn't ASK to be!" she stammered out was warm tears slid down her pale cheeks. "It just happened! I don't want to hurt anyone! I could NEVER hurt anyone, please believe me!" 

Squall closed his eyes and leaned back against the railing. His heart was beating somewhat quickly as he sat there, wondering how he should answer. He continued to hear her crying on the phone. "I believe you." 

His voice was nothing but a whisper, but Rinoa heard it. Her head perked up slightly and she sniffled. "What...?" 

"You wouldn't hurt anyone," Squall continued. "Not if you could help it." 

"Squall..." 

"This is a lot to swallow," Squall said nervously. "I need time to swallow it." 

Rinoa closed her eyes and nodded. "I understand-" 

"Rinoa," Squall said. "Understand that this changes nothing. You were a sorceress when I met you and I loved you then. You're a sorceress now and I still do." 

Rinoa let out a whimper and nodded her head. "Thank you, Squall-" 

"Don't thank me," Squall told her warmly. "There is nothing to thank me for. I don't care about you being a sorceress, Rinoa." 

"I thought you'd hate me," she admitted, her breathing still shallow. "I'm... I'm a monster." 

"You're not a monster," Squall said softly. "You're just...Rinoa." 

"I'm sorry I hid it from you," she replied. "But I didn't know what else to do. If I told the world-" 

"They would seal you away..." Squall concluded. He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his still damp hair. "I know. Who else knows?" 

Rinoa was quiet from some time. "My father...Irvine knows. He was there when they found out. Seifer...Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin all know." 

"Why all three of them?" Squall asked. 

"I never told you..." Rinoa mumbled softly. "Please don't be mad...but Seifer's my e-" 

"Rinoa!" a voice shouted from the start of the jetty. She turned her head and saw her new body guard waving one hand at her to come. "Time's up!" 

"I have to go," she said. "My body guard is calling me. We have to go home." 

Squall nodded, completely forgetting that she couldn't see. "Rinoa, what was Seifer-" 

"I love you, Squall!" she said as she stood up. "No matter what..." 

"Rinoa? Rinoa!?" The line went dead and Squall stared at his phone. *A sorceress... a secret...Seifer...* 

Rinoa climbed up the jetty to the walk way where Auron was waiting for her. He extended his hand and helped her get back on the cement path. "Are you all right, Rinoa?" he asked in his usual stern, but caring voice. "Your eyes-" 

"I'm fine, Auron," Rinoa said as she sniffled slightly. She wiped her eyes with one hand as she handed him back his phone. "Thank you. I'll pay for the charges." 

"It's all right-" 

"I insist," Rinoa added. She looked up at the night sky. "Auron...can I ask you a question?" 

"Of course." 

"If you loved someone and they turned out to be something that the rest of the world hated...what would you do?" Rinoa asked softly. 

Auron continued to walk. Rinoa looked over at him, wondering if he even heard her. Regardless, they continued to walk until they reached the car. He opened the back seat door for her and she got in. As she buckled her seat belt, Auron took his place in the driver's seat of the black luxury sedan. 

"I would protect her from the world that hated her." Auron said as he turned on the engine. Rinoa looked up and tilted her head to the side. 

"Why...?" 

Auron chuckled and answered her in the simplest way possible. "Because," he began as the car backed out and got on to the road. "I love her." 

* * *

He arrived back at the Garden past his curfew. Knowing this, he walked his bike into the parking lot and then went through the back of the Garden. He opened the door way to a little known emergency stair well and suddenly a white light was shined into his face. Groaning, he lifted his hand and shielded his face. 

"And Commander Puberty returns." a deep, mocking voice said. 

"Seifer, not now," a chiding female voice said. The light was lifted off his face and Squall blinked to regain his vision. Quistis was walking towards him, a frown on her face. "Where were you? Do you know how late you are? What if Cid was looking for you?" 

"Sorry," Squall grumbled. He walked past her without a second thought and headed towards the stairs where Seifer was sitting. The blond merely lifted his leg and sealed off the way up the stairs. Squall frowned. "Move it." 

"Make me." Seifer challenged. 

Squall's eyes narrowed. His voice lowered so Quistis couldn't hear. "How did you know about Rinoa's secret?" he hissed. 

Seifer's smirk was wiped off his face and he looked at Squall with a paling face. "How did you-" 

"She told me." 

Seifer glanced nervously back at Quistis, who was standing at the foot of the stair well, frowning up at them. "I'll speak to you later." Seifer removed his leg from Squall's path and allowed the brunette to walk up the rest of the way. 

"Seifer, what was that all about?" Quistis said as she climbed the stairs and reached the other blond. 

Seifer let out a heavy sigh and looked up at her with a smirk. "You wouldn't understand. It's a guy thing." 

"That's all well and good, but if it's a guy thing, how exactly are YOU understanding it?" she asked coolly. 

Seifer frowned and grabbed her hand. He pulled her down and she gasped as she lost her footing and fell forward. Quistis landed right across Seifer's lap as his arms secured her around him. "Oh, get off it, Quisty...you know I'm as much man as you'll ever need." 

*Oh, Hyne...here we go with the corny lines...* Quistis thought to herself. She rolled her eyes. "Seifer, I would appreciate if you let me get up." 

"Hmm..." Seifer mumbled, pretending to think. His arms tightened around her. "No, I like it better this way. Shall we continue what we were doing before puberty boy showed up?" 

Quistis felt her entire face burn red as he smirked down at her. "You are an impossible man." she spat out. 

The next thing Squall heard before he reached the floor of his dorm room was Quistis slapping Seifer and him howling out in pain. He rolled his eyes and opened the door and stepped out into the brightly lit hallways of the Garden. Casually, he walked through the hallway, as if nothing had happened. 

When he reached his dorm room, he got in and locked it behind him. He tossed his helmet and keys on the bean bag by his desk before shrugging himself out of his trademark leather jacket. He placed it on the back of his chair before he fell back against his bed. He closed his eyes as he put his arms behind his head. 

_"I'm a sorceress."_

His eyes opened wide, as if he had just heard her voice for real. He swallowed hard. *Do you love her?* he asked himself. *Yes. What about her being a sorceress? I don't care. She's still the same person.* 

Squall frowned. He knew that he loved her and that he accepted her as she was. He couldn't hate her for being a sorceress. How could he? He KNEW her. She had a kind heart, a warm smile, and charisma that attracted people to her. He couldn't see her as evil in the slightest way, despite what he had been taught. 

*And I still miss her...* he thought sadly. *I want to see her. I don't understand it... why all the precautions to keep us apart? She's going to graduate soon anyway. Doesn't her father realize that we can be together after that?* 

Questions ran through his head, each one wondering why it had turned out like this. Slowly, the curiosity got the best of him and he decided to ask the one man who would know. He checked the clock by his bed. It was two in the morning. Regardless, Squall got up. His door slid open and the hall lights were dimmed. 

Seifer's room was down the hall, all the way across the Garden. Part of him believed that Cid planned it that way so they wouldn't kill each other. He marched to the dorm room door that was at the far end of the hall and raised his hand to knock. 

Inside the room, Seifer was on his bed. He heard the heavy knocking on the door and mentally swore. At first he tried to ignore it, but the knocking persisted. He swore out loud and kicked off his blankets. He threw his feet of the side of the bed and headed towards the door. 

"WHAT?" he growled as the doors slid open. "What the hell!?" His green, sleep filled eyes went wide as they saw Squall standing there, an annoyed look on his face. 

"I need to talk to you." Squall hissed. 

Seifer jerked his head back and narrowed his eyes. "Dammit, it's two in the morning! Can't it wait?" 

"If it could, I wouldn't be here." Squall hissed once more. Seifer grumbled and stepped back from his door. 

"Fine, come in..." Seifer looked out into the hall way, making sure that no one had seen Squall enter his room, before stepping back and closing the door. It could only be about one thing. He took a deep breath and looked at Squall as the other young man stood in the center of his room. "What do you want to know?" he grumbled as he turned on the lights in his room and blinked to get used to the sudden brightness. 

"First of all, is it true," Squall stated. He narrowed his eyes. "Is Rinoa really a sorceress?" 

Seifer stared at him in disbelief, as if he the gall to wake him up that early in the morning just to ask him a simple question. "What the hell do you think?" he snorted as he walked past Squall and sat on his bed. He looked up at the dark haired man. "What did she tell you?" 

"She said that she was a sorceress," Squall continued. "Is it true?" 

"Why the hell would she joke around about that?" Seifer said with narrowed green eyes, studying the man before him with scrutiny. "What would you do if she was?" 

"I don't know!" Squall snapped. "But I find it hard to believe that she's a sorceress! They're evil and dangerous. Look at Rinoa, she's NOTHING like that!" He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "She wouldn't hurt anyone." he asserted. 

Seifer nodded slightly. "So now that you know that, I guess I should tell you," he said casually. "Yes, Rinoa is a sorceress." 

"Impossible." Squall found himself saying immediately. Seifer rolled his eyes. 

"Believe it or not, puberty boy but you fell in love with this generation's sorceress," Seifer replied coolly. "Not that I can blame you. I did the same thing." 

Squall let the blonde's words sink in before narrowing his eyes and turning his icy gaze upon Seifer without remorse. "WHAT." 

"She didn't tell you?" Seifer asked, letting out a chuckle as he did so. He leaned forward and smirked. "I'm Rinoa's first and last boyfriend." 

Squall immediately began to go back to the time in the cafe with Rinoa. Right before Seifer appeared, she was going to tell him what he was to her. Then, just a few hours earlier, Rinoa had almost told him what Seifer was to her once more, but she had to leave. "You're her ex-boyfriend..." Squall said, looking both surprised and disgusted at the idea. 

Seifer let out a holler of laughter as he fell back on his head and nodded. "Damn straight!" he laughed. He smirked as he watch Squall fidget. "Gave Rinoa her first kiss, too." 

If looks could kill, Seifer would've been dead already. "I don't care..." Squall hissed through gritted teeth. 

"Don't be jealous," Seifer assured him casually. "Rin was more infatuated than anything else. You know how she is...caught up in the moment. The timing was good, too. We were both models and-" 

"I don't CARE about you and Rinoa," Squall said. "Tell me, how do you know she's a sorceress?" 

Seifer's foolishly arrogant smile left his face and a serious frown happened. "I wasn't there when they find out," he told him. "I believe the cowboy was. He's know Rin since they were kids. But it happened when she was a child. She was playing with a dog in the park with her mother and when her mother turned her head briefly, Rinoa wandered away with her dog." 

"I thought Rinoa's mother died when she was a child." Squall recalled reading somewhere. 

Seifer nodded. "This was a year or so before Julia Heartilly died, I think," he mumbled. "Anyway, Julia and Irvine, whose older and was Rinoa's playmate, split up to look for her. When Irvine found her, she was screaming. Her dog was being attacked by two larger dogs and couldn't fend for itself. Before Irvine could get to the dog, Rinoa lost control and let out this burst of energy." 

"Burst of energy..." Squall mumbled. "What happened?" 

Seifer ran his hand through his messy hair. "According to the cowboy, wings came out of Rinoa's back and a wave of magic energy went through the area. Since Rinoa was so close to the dogs, all three of them were killed by the blast - inadvertently of course. Irvine was knocked out, Rinoa was unconscious, and Julia found them laying there along with the charred bodies of the dogs." 

Squall silently leaned against the wall and Seifer looked up at him cautiously. He waited for Squall to say something. The brunette looked down at the floor with narrowed eyes. "Are they sure it was her?" he gasped out. 

Seifer groaned. "Listen, either you believe it or not, but Rinoa's a sorceress!" 

"How did you take it when Rinoa told you?" Squall asked angrily. "Are you forgetting that I'm a SeeD? I'm trained to apprehend and seal away sorceresses!" 

"Don't you think I know that!?" Seifer growled, standing up as well. "But how uncomfortable do you think it was for Rinoa to be HERE? In a Garden FILLED with people trained to take her down if she showed any sign of being a sorceress? She won't show it, hell, she even stands in front of thousands of people who come to see her concert, but she doesn't want to be locked away for ever like a criminal. Who does? She looks and acts so damn normal, no one would believe she's a sorceress! So Caraway let's sing and model and go to school in a Garden. She can't be detected just by the way she acts!" 

"Are you trying to tell me that when she told you, you didn't have the sudden urge to turn her in?" Squall asked. "You know by doing so, you would've been made into a SeeD, no questions asked." 

"Dammit, puberty boy, why do you have to make it sound like we're betraying something by knowing she's a sorceress!" Seifer spat out, frustrated. "Rin's just a normal girl. She's the same before as she was now. What difference does it make if she has super human powers?" 

"What if one day something happens?" Squall asked bitterly. "Like she's possessed or something and we are forced to hunt her down like a criminal?" 

"Is that what you're afraid out?" Seifer asked, his eyes narrowed. 

Squall was breathing deeply and ran his hand through his hair. "I could NEVER hurt her," Squall admitted. "If the entire world was after her, I would be by her side protecting her." 

Seifer stared at him in dismay. "And if she killed many people and was on the verge of destroying the world?" 

"Then I guess I'd have to stop her," Squall said. "Because the Rinoa I love wouldn't want herself to be doing that." 

Seifer paused, allowing the answer to sink in. "Do you love Rinoa?" he finally asked. 

Squall glared at him and paused. "Would I be here talking to YOU if I didn't?" 

Seifer snorted and let out a chuckle. He leaned his head back and took a deep breath. "Now you know," Seifer said. "You know she's a sorceress. You know I'm her ex-boyfriend. And you know you love her," Seifer looked him straight in the eye. "Anything else?" 

"Her father," Squall said. "I don't understand why he won't let me see Rinoa...Why is he going through such measures to stop us from communicating?" 

"How dumb are you..." Seifer mumbled. He sat back down. "Rinoa is a sorceress. Where do all the sealed sorceresses go? Esthar. Who is runs the country? Laguna Loire. And WHO's DADDY is Laguna Loire?" 

Squall narrowed his eyes. "You're not serious," he mumbled. He took a step forward. "You can't be serious! He's going through all this just because MY father is Laguna Loire! I don't even acknowledge him AS my father!" 

"Well, he sure as hell acknowledges you, sonny boy." Seifer mocked. 

"Hyne, this can't be happening..." 

"That's not all," Seifer mumbled. "Caraway believes that Rinoa has an unhealthy fixation on you. That the more she is with you, the more attached she becomes." 

"But I love her as well-" 

Seifer held out his hand to stop Squall. "Hold on," he said. "He's afraid that if Rinoa gets too attached and you break up with her, she'll crack. That she'll loose control of herself and reveal herself as a sorceress to the world. I know that her father seems crazy and demented...and in some retrospect, he probably is. But he's just looking out for his only child." 

Squall's mind drifted back to Irvine, who had commented that the lengths that Caraway was going to keep Rinoa away from him weren't as extreme as Squall had thought. "But I would never hurt her." Squall said. 

"Things happen," Seifer shrugged. "People change...he doesn't want to see Rinoa, his only family, locked away in an chamber in Esthar. If you check on Rin, you'll see that she's never been to Esthar. Her father won't let her go. He thinks that she might be discovered there because of all the technology." 

"Why do you keep all of this?" Squall asked. He narrowed his eyes. "I find it hard to believe that the man she dumped-" 

"She did not 'dump me'," Seifer corrected him quickly. "We had a 'mutual break-up'." 

Squall rolled his eyes. "Whatever." 

"Anyway, let's just say that I did a few...unpleasant things while drunk. In exchange for holding Rinoa's secret, he keeps my record private. Same with Kinneas, too. But he does it mainly because Rin's his friend," Seifer shrugged. "And I care about her, too." 

Jealousy flared up deep within Squall and he mentally calmed himself down. *They're just friends...* he told himself. 

"Listen, if that's all the questions you have, can you get out so I can get some sleep?" Seifer grumbled. 

Squall nodded. He headed for the door and paused. "Thanks..." he mumbled under his breath. Seifer smirked and Squall left. 

* * *

"Good morning!" Cid said cheerfully as he walked past the lobby of his office. 

"Uh, sir-" his secretary began, but Cid shook his head and put his hand on the door knob of his office. 

"No, no! No coffee for me today!" Cid said cheerfully. "I'm starting my diet today!" 

Before the secretary could get another word in, Cid threw open his door and stepped in. He hung his coat on one of the hooks on the door and closed it. He turned around and froze. 

"Good morning, sir," a deep voice said from Cid's oak desk. Cid's eyes went wide as he saw Squall sitting against the edge of his desk, his face holding an eerily placid look on it. "I need to speak to you." 

"Squall...what are you doing here?" Cid asked. He held his hand to this throat as he suddenly felt nervous under the youth's gaze. 

"I came to discuss Galbadia-14 with you." Squall said. Cid sighed and cautiously walked around Squall and the desk to his chair. Cid sat down on his leather chair and looked up at him. 

"Squall, I'm sorry, but I can't let you go-" 

"The G-14 is in two days," Squall said coolly. "I can still make it there." 

Cid shook his head. "I'm sorry, Squall, but the punishment had already been instilled. After this weekend, you can go out and race all you want-" 

"The G-14 is once every year," Squall said in a deep and dangerous voice. Cid swallowed hard. "I'm afraid I can't miss it." 

"Squall, you know that General Caraway has specifically requested that you are punished for breaking Garden rules. You are aware of the damage he can do to us if-" 

"If I get him to change his mind and the punishment is lifted," Squall began. "You can't fire me if I go." 

"Of course not, but that's impossi-" 

"I'm leaving for Deling City," Squall said without a bat of his eye. He slowly stepped back from Cid's desk. "Expect a phone call tomorrow." 

"What!?" Cid gasped as he shot out from his chair. "Squall, you can't just leave!" Cid gasped. "You're still on probation-" 

"If I get Caraway to change his mind, I'll be off," Squall said. "And anything I would've done during the 'probation' period will not be counted against me. Garden rules." 

"Squall, don't do this!" Cid pleaded as he walked around his desk. Squall was already at the door, his back turned to Cid. "You're the best SeeD here! Caraway will deny you for sure and then I can't do anything to stop him when he requests your dismissal!" 

"You won't have to." Squall spat out. He grabbed the handle of Cid's office and pulled. 

"This is a mistake!" Cid said as he ran out after the young man. "Squall, you're throwing your whole future away!" 

Squall paused before he headed out into the hall way. "I'd rather take this risk and regret it than not take it at all." 

The doors to the lobby slid closed and Cid leaned against the door frame of his office. He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair before taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'd rather you not." he whispered. 

* * *

"Oh my Hyne..." Quistis said as she and the others entered Squall's dorm room. He was hunched over his bed, packing things into a standard issue navy SeeD duffel bag. "You're really going..." 

"Squall, do you know what you're doing?" Zell said. "What if her father won't forgive you!? What if he bans you from racing and gets you fired?" 

"I don't care," Squall said as he zipped up the bag. He threw it's strap over his shoulder and went to his desk. He grabbed his wallet and shoved it in his back pocket before checking to see if his phone was there as well. "Selphie, did you get it?" he asked roughly. 

The little brown haired girl slipped between the two blondes and lifted up a piece of paper. "I just called Irvine," she said. "He'll pick you up from the train station when you get there. Here's his phone number and Rinoa's address so you can find her place after he drops you off at the hotel." 

Squall took the paper she was offering and looked over it before folding it neatly and putting it into his jacket pocket. "Thanks." he mumbled. He headed towards the door and Quistis and Zell stepped out of his way. 

As soon as Squall reached the hallway, he found Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin all standing there. "The car's downstairs," Seifer said. "Let's go." 

"Seifer, you're going, too!?" Quistis gasped. 

"Just giving him a ride to the train station, Quisty," Seifer said as he turned and headed down the hall to the elevators. "I'm sure he didn't want to leave his precious bike there." 

They followed them to the elevators and then down the main hall to the front of the Garden. There, Seifer's car was parked in the no parking area, waiting for them. Without a thought he got into the car and popped the trunk for Squall. The brown haired man put his things in and got into the passenger's seat. 

"Good luck!" Selphie said as she jumped up and down and cheered. 

"Be careful, Squall." Quistis prayed silently. 

"See you on t.v.!" Zell added enthusiastically. The corners of Squall's lips rose slightly, feeling his hopes rise as his friends sent him off. 

Alone in the car with Seifer, Squall crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window. "You know what you're doing?" Seifer asked simply. 

"Yeah." 

"Good." The rest of the car drive to the train station was in silence. Before mid-afternoon, they had reached the train station, having left right after school was over. Squall had to make some phone calls and get his hotel reservations straight. When they pulled up to the station, Squall opened his door and got out. Seifer made no move to get out and help him. 

He merely opened the trunk from the inside of the car. Squall reached it and grabbed his things. He slammed the trunk closed and walked towards the entrance. He paused and turned back to the car. "Thanks." he mumbled. 

Seifer, who had his window rolled down merely nodded. "Hey, puberty boy," he called out. He continued to look straight ahead. "One more thing," Squall stopped where he was and waited. "Good luck. For Rinoa's sake." 

Before Squall could even get his words to register in his head, Seifer slammed his foot on the gas and sped away. The smell of burning rubber was left in his place. Squall looked back up at the train station and headed towards the ticket counter. His eyes laid on the price of a ticket and he mentally swore. 

*Damn...I don't have nearly enough if I want to make it there by tonight...* he thought to himself. He stepped out of the line and looked through his wallet. *I need money...* 

Suddenly, his phone rang. Swearing, he put his wallet away and pulled out his phone. He grumbled a greeting. "Squall, there you are! We've been trying to reach you!" 

He let out a heavy sigh. "Hey, Sis..." he breathed. "Listen, now isn't a good time." 

"Just wait a second," Ellone said. "We're on a train to Deling City as we speak! Uncle Laguna found out that you were going to be racing in the Galbadia Fountain and-" 

"Galbadia-14," Squall sighed. *Great...HE'S going to be there...* 

"Yes, and so we're all going over to Galbadia to watch your race!" Ellone said. "Anyway, are you there yet?" 

"No, I've actually hit a little snag..." Squall said. Suddenly an idea popped into his head. "Hey, Sis...I'm a little short on cash right now. Do you think you can..." 

"Oh, I'm sorry, Squall..." Ellone replied, disappointed. "I'm afraid I don't have a lot of money...wait a second. Yes, it's Squall..." The dark haired young man narrowed his eyes, realizing that his sister was talking to someone else. "Oh...all right here-" 

Before she could finish her sentence, the phone was snatched away. "Squall!? Is that you? It's me - your dad!" 

For a brief moment, Squall contemplated jumping into the rail way just as a train arrived. He paused and shook his head. "Hello, Laguna..." 

"Don't sound so glum!" the cheerful voice said. "So...how are you doing?" 

"Now is not a good time," Squall sighed. "I'm kind of busy right now-" 

"Ellone said that you're in need of money, is that true?" Laguna asked. "I can forward you the money. As much as you need. Just tell me!" 

Squall narrowed his eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was borrow money from his father. That would mean that he's indebted to him and that was the last thing Squall wanted. "I don't need money from you-" 

"Squall, I don't expect to be paid back," Laguna told him seriously. "Just tell me where I can forward the money and it'll be there in five minutes." 

Squall looked at his watch and then at the train schedule. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. *Rinoa...I need to get there for Rinoa. If I don't do this, we'll never be able to see each other again...* After mentally validating himself, Squall gave a slight nod. "I'm at the Balamb train station," he explained. "I need five hundred gil." 

* * *

"What...?" Rinoa frowned as she headed down the steps of the mansion. Auron was standing by the back seat door of his car, waiting for Rinoa to get in. She held the house phone to her ear and paused before she got into the car. "What do you mean you can't come to the shoot! You're always there for my photo shoots!" 

"Rin, I'm sorry," Irvine said reluctantly. "I'm caught up in something right now and I can't get out of it." 

Rinoa sighed heavily and nodded. "Fine...but you owe me." she said. 

Irvine laughed. "Sure thing. I'll talk to you later." 

"Bye." 

"Bye." Rinoa put the phone in the hands of a maid that had followed her down to the car. 

"Is everything all right, Rinoa?" Auron asked as she got into the car. 

"Yeah...Irvine can't make it," Rinoa said. Auron closed the door to the car and looked at his watch. He went around to the driver's seat and got into the car. Within moments, the black machine started up. "That's weird though...he never misses my photo shoots." 

"Not once?" Auron asked, somewhat in disbelief that the young man who flirted with any woman that walked by was capable of such diligence. 

"Well...one time, he got into a car accident with Seifer," Rinoa mumbled thoughtfully. "That wasn't pretty." 

"Whose car were they driving?" her body guard asked. 

Rinoa stared at him blankly. "What do you mean whose car? They were each driving their own and ran into each other." 

"..." Auron nodded to himself. *That sounds more like it...* "I see..." 

"Anyway, this photo shoot is supposed to only take a few hours. If we're done before my curfew...do you think we can...?" Rinoa trailed off, an eager look in her eyes. Auron chuckled to himself and nodded. 

"Just make sure to keep it short," Auron said. "My last phone bill wasn't exactly small." 

"Thanks, Auron!" 

* * *

Irvine hung up his phone and put it into one of his pockets. He looked over to his right casually. "I don't really enjoy lying to her like that." he sighed. 

"It has to be done," Squall said as he held his duffel bag on his lap. "There's the hotel. Turn here." 

"Right," Irvine said. "Hey...are you sure you don't want me to just drop you off at the mansion?" 

"You don't need to be connected to this, Irvine," Squall said. "If Rinoa's father finds out that you had something to do with this, he might rip her away from you as well." 

"Point taken," Irvine nodded. He pulled up the hotel and Squall got out. "If you need anything, Selphie gave you my phone number, right!?" he shouted out his window as Squall was heading into the hotel. 

Squall nodded and Irvine drove away. He waited a few moments before heading into the hotel. Once there, Squall headed straight for the front desk. "Hello, sir," a smiling woman said. "Can I help you?" 

"Squall Leonhart. I have a reservation." he said. 

The woman at the counter went to her computer and nodded. "All right, sir. You are in room 523, a non-smoking single," She handed him her keys and smiled. "Thank you for choosing Deling Hotel." 

Squall took the keys and nodded. He rushed to his room and tossed his things on the floor. He looked down at the clock by he bed. Irvine had told him that Rinoa was out of the house, at a photo shoot, meaning he wouldn't be distracted by her presence when he went to speak to her father. 

Still nervous, he stripped himself of clothing and took a quick shower. The hot steam rose and fogged the mirrors and the sides of the glass shower stall, but Squall didn't care. He let the scolding water hit his skin and relax him for the time being. Much too soon, he would face the man that stood between him and the woman he loved. 

* * *

General Caraway sat in his den, meticulously going over reports under a lone desk lamp. He flipped through some files, ignoring the door bell's sound that rang through the entire mansion. *One of the maids will get it...* he thought to himself as he closed one folder and opened up another one. 

Downstairs, a maid dressed in an all black dress walked down the hall. She frowned at the impatience of their visitor. She had heard them ringing the door bell the first time. Her pale hand shot out and unlocked the doors quickly before pulling it open. "Can I help you?" she asked in a sultry voice. 

The young man looked up and stood up straight, a habit he had gotten from growing up in a military academy. "Yes, mam, I would like to speak to General Caraway." he stated. 

The woman looked up over and raised an eyebrow. "Do you have an appointment?" 

"No, mam, this is an abrupt visit, but I need to speak to him at once." Squall told her. 

"Your name?" she asked coolly. 

"Commander Squall Leonhart of Balamb Garden." Squall recited. She nodded. 

"Please come in," she said. She stepped aside and Squall entered the high ceiling foyer. "Please wait here. I shall go see if the General will speak to you." 

"Tell him it regards his daughter." Squall told her. The maid nodded and headed up the stairs that was sprawled out in front of them. Squall looked around the entrance of the mansion, taking it all in. There was a beautiful crystal chandelier above him. The floor was of white marble. And on the walls in the hall ways, numerous framed pictures. 

He slowly walked over to his left, noticing a large, oil painting of a beautiful woman and a child. The woman was wearing a dark red dress and on her lap was a little girl wearing a frilly pink dress with short dark brown hair underneath a white hat. The woman looked a little bit like Rinoa and he wondered... 

"That is my late wife, Julia," a deep voice said behind him. Squall stiffened as he heard the voice and slowly turned around. Dressed in a comfortable robe and cotton pants, the General walked down the stair way. He reached the bottom step and turned to Squall. "The little girl is Rinoa when she was three." 

Squall turned back to look at the picture. It seemed to obvious now. The little girl's smile was undoubtedly Rinoa's. He turned back to the General. "Good evening, sir. Sorry to barge in like this." 

"What have you come to talk about, Commander?" Caraway asked as calmly as he could. He now stood a few steps from Squall. 

Squall straightened his posture and faced the General. "I believe you already know." he said coolly. 

He studied Caraway's face for any sign of emotion, but the older man stayed stoic. "Do you realize the risk you run by just being here?" Caraway asked. "I could have you fired in an instant." 

Squall held his ground. "I understand that clearly, sir," Squall said. "But then, I think you should listen to what I have to say first." 

"And why would I do that?" Caraway asked, a slightly arrogant smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. 

"Because I don't think you want to see your daughter frozen in a chamber in Esthar," Squall stated. "For being a sorceress." 

* * *

"He's not there...?" Rinoa asked quietly, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Oh.." 

"Sorry, Rinoa," Selphie said as she looked over the blue panel in front of her. "I haven't seen him all day." 

Rinoa frowned and nodded as she sat back in the car. "All right...thanks, Selphie. Um... if you see him, do you think you can tell him I called?" she asked earnest. 

"Will do!" Selphie said cheerfully. She moved a piece. "Sorry about not being able to help." 

"It's all right!" Rinoa assured her warmly. "You've done so much already. Thank you!" 

"No problem! Bye!" 

"Bye!" Rinoa hung up and Selphie moved her final piece. 

"Hehehe..." she smirked and Zell's eyes went wide from where he was sitting across from her. 

"No way! You sunk my battle ship!" 

"That's fifteen times in a row, Zell..." Quistis sighed. "Can I play now?" 

"No! Not until I win!" Zell insisted. Selphie giggled. 

"Sorry, Quistis, but it looks like you'll never get to play." 

Back in Deling City, Rinoa leaned back against the seat of the car and looked out the window numbly. "He wasn't available?" Auron asked. Rinoa nodded slightly. 

She let out a heavy sigh. "Thanks anyway, Auron. I appreciate it." She leaned forward and handed him his phone. 

"No problem." 

*Where can he be...?* her mind whimpered, her heart sinking. *Hyne...please don't let him be avoiding me...* 

* * *

General Caraway slammed his hands on the table and sat straight up, his eyes burning with fury as he glared at the young man seated before him in his den. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound!?" he roared. "Do you really believe that I'll give in to your whims!" 

"I don't believe you have a choice in the matter." Squall answered back. 

"You wouldn't DARE!" 

"You don't know how much I love motorcycle racing," he said coolly. "This might be my one chance at the Galbadia-14." 

"So in exchange for you keeping my daughter's secret, I excuse you from your punishment at the Garden and let you ride in it?" Caraway spat out, disgusted. 

"Yes, that's it." 

"I thought you loved my daughter." 

"You made the assumption that I did," Squall said. "I never told you that I love your daughter." 

By this time, Caraway was seething. "You do realize that if the world finds out that she's a sorceress, she might as well be hanged." 

"I am a SeeD," Squall said. "I would be doing the hanging." 

Caraway narrowed his eyes and glared at Squall's calm ones. "I refuse." he said. 

"Fine," Squall answered. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cellular phone. Caraway watched with anxiety as Squall slowly dialed in some numbers. When he stopped, he glanced up at Caraway and brought the phone to his ear. "Kiros...yes, it's Squall. Is Laguna there?" 

Caraway's eyes flew wide open in horror. "That can't be..." he mumbled. "Laguna Loire...? President of Esthar?" 

"The one who sealed away the sorceress Adel," Squall told him casually. Caraway's blood froze as he heard Laguna's voice shout excitedly into Squall's ear. It took everything in Squall's power to keep the phone at his ear as his father eagerly asked if he got the money and how is train ride was. "Yes...actually, I have a request." 

"Really!? What is it? Anything! You name it, son!" Laguna shouted. 

Caraway's heart stopped. "Enough!" he gasped out, leaning across the desk, his face pale and damp with sweat. Squall looked up at him questioningly. "All right! Just don't tell him!" 

"Actually...never mind," Squall said. "Good-bye." Without any hesitation he hung up on Laguna while the man was in mid sentence. Squall looked at General Caraway, who fell back on his seat. 

"I can't believe you're threatening me." he mumbled quietly. 

"It's not so much a threat as it is a proposition," Squall replied. Caraway grumbled. "Now call Balamb Garden." Squall ordered in a deep voice. The General nodded and reluctantly lifted up the phone on his desk. 

"I don't have the phone number on me," he mumbled. Squall reached over and turned the phone around. He casually pressed in the number directly to Cid's private line. Caraway waited and the phone rang twice before someone answered. "Hello...Headmaster Kramer? Good evening. This is General Caraway in Deling City. Yes, I am doing fine. And you? Excellent. I am calling in regards to a young Commander Leonhart," He paused and looked over at the young man. "I would like to retract his request for a punishment." 

The words sounded in Squall's ears and he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Outwardly, he didn't show any emotion as Caraway concluded the phone with Cid. After a few minutes, he put the phone down. "I take it everything has been cleared up?" 

Caraway nodded. "You're free to ride in the Galbadia-14...just don't let anyone know about Rinoa's secret." 

"Of course," Squall said. "And I'll do you one up. I just wanted to ride in the race. If I loose, you'll never hear from or see me again. I'll leave Rinoa alone." 

Caraway stared at him. "And if you win?" 

"Then Rinoa gets to go back to Balamb Garden, if she so chooses, and is able to be with anyone she wants," Squall told him with a challenging look. "Think of the odds. My winning is one out of twenty. Losing is nineteen out of twenty." 

"If you loose, you'll leave Rinoa alone? And never speak of her secret again?" 

"And I won't hang it over your head if I want something," Squall said. *Although, if Rinoa doesn't want to leave ME alone...that's a whole other story.* he mentally added. 

Caraway looked at Squall and nodded. "Fine," he said. He extended his hand. "It's a deal." 


	10. On Your Marks

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Ten: _On Your Marks  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** Beta-Reader Wanted!! I have a friend whose looking for a beta-reader and if anyone is interested, please send me a note! You'd have the honor of being the first to read her work, so this is a good chance. ^_^ And many people seem to be POed at Squall for his choice of action. @.@ 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"Hey, Irvine!" Rinoa said. She leaned back against the soft cushion of the car's back seat as she looked out the window at the passing street. "Hmm...oh, no I just got out." 

From where he was sitting, Auron listened in on the young woman's phone call. He couldn't make out what Irvine was saying. "All ready?" Irvine asked her nervously. "That was pretty short." 

"Actually, the photographer's hand was burned when someone spilled his latte on him by accident. We stopped half way through," Rinoa replied. "But I'm glad. I can relax a little." 

"So where are you off to now?" he asked with a smile. 

"Going home," Rinoa replied. She took a deep breath as her smile faded slightly. "Hey... Irvine, you haven't heard from Squall, have you?" 

"Squall? Why would I have heard from Squall?" Irvine said. He was sitting in the living room of his condo, his eyes darting around the room nervously. 

"Because I tried to call him earlier and he wasn't answering his phone," Rinoa pouted. "I'm kind of worried." 

"Why?" Irvine asked thoughtfully. "You know he's not cheating on you. If he was, Seifer would've already called to say that he's killed him." 

"No, it's not that," Rinoa mumbled. She looked down at her lap. "Nothing...never mind." 

Irvine paused on the phone. "Rinoa..." he mumbled. "It's never just nothing with you. What's wrong?" 

"It's nothing, really," Rinoa asserted. She smiled weakly as she held Auron's phone up to her ear. "...It's just that I was hoping to talk to him and...well...you know, I couldn't reach him." 

"Oh..." Irvine nodded. "I see..." *That's because he's at your place right now talking to your father...oh, crap! She's not supposed to know that!* "Hey, Rin, I have to get going," he said as he looked up at the clock on his wall. "I...uh...need to pick up my laundry! I'll call you later?" 

"Sure," Rinoa said. "Bye!" Irvine hung up his phone and tossed it on the couch as he ran towards the door. He grabbed his keys and hat on his way out before flying out of the condo. 

* * *

Squall pulled his hand away from the General's firm grip, trying to keep a serious look on his face the whole time. "You made the right decision, sir." 

"Don't patronize me," Caraway hissed. "I obviously underestimated you, Leonhart. I now find it hard to believe that my sweet, innocent daughter could possibly fall in love with someone who would use her as you are." 

"I have my reasons," Squall spat out. "And I do hope you realize that Rinoa is not to be informed of this...as well as the wager." 

Caraway's eyes were narrowed viciously. "Of course." 

"Good," The corners of Squall's lips pulled up slightly as his phone rang. "If you'll excuse me..." 

He stepped back, away from the desk slightly. He lifted the phone to his ear as he paced by the door across the room. He kept wary eyes on General Caraway as the General watched him suspiciously. "Get out of there," he heard Irvine's voice hiss in a low tone. "Rinoa's coming home!" 

A tiny spark of surprise went through Squall's hardened face. "I thought I had a few more hours." 

"It was cut short! I just called her!" Irvine replied. 

"I see..." Squall nodded. "Thank you." He hung up the phone and slowly slipped it back into his jacket. 

"Problems, Commander?" Caraway asked coolly, noticing the slight change in attitude about Squall. 

Cold blue eyes locked on to his. "Not at all," Squall said, a slight smirk on his face. "I have a long day tomorrow. I trust you'll be there at the start of the race - midnight tomorrow." 

Caraway nodded. "I plan to." 

Squall nodded. "Thank you for your time," he replied. "Have a nice evening." 

Caraway headed towards the door, with Squall following behind him. He opened the heavy door and watched as Squall stepped out. "I would see you out, Commander, but I have things to attend to." 

Squall nodded subtly and waited for Caraway to close the door before heading towards the stairs. He walked the short walk from Caraway's office to the top of the stairs. He quickly walked down the long, curve of stairs into the elegant foyer. As he reached the bottom floor, he pulled out his phone. 

The maid who had let him in approached him from the a side hall and opened the door for him. He gave her a nod to thank her and stepped outside. "Where are you?" Irvine asked as soon as he answered the phone. 

"I just got out of the mansion," Squall replied. "Where are you?" 

"Outside, across the street," Irvine replied. "Hurry up, she'll be here soon." 

"Right." Squall nodded and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He looked down the long drive way and speedily walked towards the front gate. He assumed that the entire area was fixed with cameras and that Caraway could be watching him at that very moment. In order to play it safe, he attempted a casual get away. 

It took him a short minute to get to the front, already opened gates. He slipped out casually and as he walked down the street, searched for Irvine's car. He saw the vehicle parked in the shadows by the street corner and narrowed his eyes. Irvine was sitting there nervously, his hat hiding his face, but also acting as a dead give away that it was him. 

His passenger's door open and he turned to see Squall enter. The car sank down slightly as Squall sat in it and closed his door. "How'd it go?" Irvine asked. 

Squall nodded his head. "I'm racing tomorrow." 

Irvine let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Great! How'd you do it?" Irvine asked. Squall turned to look at him. 

"Don't worry about it," Squall told him in a stoic voice. "Let's just get out of here before Rinoa drives by and sees us." 

Irvine sighed and nodded. "Fine," he grumbled. "But just know that you're the first man to be able to change Caraway's mind about something like this." 

*Figures...* Squall thought to himself. Irvine started the car and turned on the head lights. 

He pulled out into the street. "But congratulations, man! You're going to be racing in the G-14!" 

"Just make sure Rinoa doesn't find out about this," Squall informed him. "If she finds me in the G-14, she'll want to know how I got into it." 

"What am I supposed to tell her?" Irvine asked as they drove down the street and turned the corner. "I mean...if she finds out." 

"Nothing," Squall said. "I don't want her to worry." 

"She'll worry even if you don't want her to." 

"I know." 

"Then let's just hope she doesn't find out." Irvine asserted. 

Their car stopped at a stop light and a car that was coming from their right made a left turn, crossing in front of them. 

* * *

Rinoa checked her watch. It wasn't too late in the night. She sighed and looked out her window. Immediately, her eyes locked on to a familiar car stopped at a stop light. *Looks like Irvine's car...* she thought to herself harmlessly. As Auron's car crossed the other car's line of sight, Rinoa's eyes went wide. 

Directly through the wind shield, she saw Irvine sitting at the driver's seat. His mouth was moving as he talked. But her eyes weren't looking at Irvine. They were looking at the young brunette who was sitting in the passenger's seat. Rinoa sank down quickly into her chair, forgetting that the windows of her vehicle were tinted. 

"Is something wrong, Rinoa?" Auron's voice asked from the front as he caught her actions in the rear view mirror. 

Rinoa flushed and shook her head. She sat up straighter, her eyes still focused on the car that they were now passing. As the lights turned green, the car started forward. As it disappeared in the distance, Rinoa watched. "Nothing..." she mumbled. *Squall? What's SQUALL doing HERE? And in IRVINE'S car!? Did that little...dammit Irvine! You lied!* 

Her face grew warm as her knuckles clenched in fury. How could her best friend lie to her...he was hiding something. She narrowed her eyes and looked over at Auron. Before she opened her mouth, he answered. "Yes, you can borrow my phone." 

Rinoa jerked her head back, surprised that he knew what she was going to ask. "How..." 

"I saw Irvine's car, too." 

"So I wasn't just dreaming..." Rinoa grumbled. "He lied to me..." 

"Perhaps he had a reason," Auron replied. They reached the front gate of her family's mansion. "All right, Rinoa. We're back." They pulled into the drive way and parked in front of the front steps. Auron held out his phone and Rinoa took it. 

"Thanks," Rinoa said as she hid it in her purse. "I'll pay for the minutes." He got out of the car just as a butler, who had seen their arrival, opened the front door for them. Auron got out and opened Rinoa's door for her to get out. 

"Would you like something to eat, young mistress?" the white haired butler asked. Rinoa shook her head. 

"No, I'm going to bed," she explained. "I'll skip my midnight snack tonight." 

"Yes, young mistress. Please call if you need anything," the butler said. "Auron, sir? Would you like something to drink?" The tall, foreboding man nodded. 

"Vodka," Auron said as he followed the butler into the hall. "Are you going straight to bed, Rinoa?" 

"Yes, Auron. Thank you again," she said, referring to more than driving and protecting her. She put her hands into the pocket of her jacket, feeling for the phone that had passed her before exiting the car. "Goodnight." 

* * *

"Thanks," Squall mumbled as he closed the door to Irvine's car. The cowboy nodded and watched as the young man in black leather headed into the lobby of the Deling Hotel. His dark hair framed his face as the sliding doors opened and he stepped in. *Oh no...* 

To his dismay, and the clerks' annoyance, the lobby was filled with people who would be spectators at the Galbadia-14. The lobby itself now had a line that went across the floor of people who were checking in. Many were rowdy, yelling and hollering at each other from across the room. 

He had neglected thinking ahead to this situation. In his rush, he never even considered the company he would be in. It was not like he didn't like these people. In fact, he understood them completely. It was the fact that they would keep him up all night with their room parties that caused him to be displeased. Luckily for him, the race did not officially start until midnight, as was the tradition. 

Squall took a deep breath and let out a small prayer, hoping that none of the spectators would realize who he was without the racing gear on. He lowered his head and marched through the crowds in the lobby, heading straight for the elevator. 

"Hey! It's SQUALL!!" 

He inwardly winced as he recognized the voice. "Squall! We were afraid that you weren't going to come!" another voice shouted. 

The brunette slowly turned around as two blondes reached him. One of them seemed to be on the verge of tears of joy as eager blue eyes locked on to his. "Tifa's having a breakdown! She really thought you wouldn't come!" 

"She hasn't submitted your retraction forms yet, you know." Zidane added as Tidus nodded. 

"I didn't think she would," Squall mumbled. "Where is she? I should talk to her." 

"She's in line checking us in," another voice said. Squall turned around and saw a short, spiky haired blond walking towards them. "You had us worried." 

"Sorry," Squall mumbled. Cloud was holding half a dozen bags around him. "You packed a lot." 

"A lot?" Cloud scoffed. "Two bell boys already left with two carts filled with Tifa's luggage!" 

"That's all Tifa's?" Squall asked. 

Cloud shook his head and lifted up on seemingly half empty dark blue duffel bag that stood out from the brown, matching LV luggage. "This is mine." 

"Did you bring my stuff?" Squall asked. 

"Oh, sure...NOW you need your stuff," Zidane grumbled. "Yeah...stupid Tifa made us pack it all up. It took us hours." 

"Including your precious racing bike," Tidus said. He frowned. "I wanted to ride it over, but they threatened to skin me." 

"As they should," Squall mumbled. He turned to Cloud. "I need to talk to Tifa and you about the race tomorrow." 

"So you'll be there, right?" Cloud asked, just wanting to make sure. Squall nodded. The blond gave him a bright smile and let out a relieved sigh. 

"I need to schedule some times to practice tomorrow...just to get my bearings," Squall told him. Cloud nodded in understanding. Before he could open his mouth to answer, Squall was suddenly hit upside the head. "What the-" he growled as he turned around. 

He faced the glaring eyes of Tifa Lockheart. "Do you know how worried I was!?" she growled. "I thought you wouldn't make it!" 

"How did you even know I was coming?" Squall asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Women's intuition," Tifa said. "Everything has been ready for you. Practice times, set up fees, everything. Just show up tomorrow by three in the afternoon and get some practice in the track. Get a look at the area and then be at the final briefing at eight that night." 

Squall nodded. "Thanks." 

"And what room are you in?" Tifa asked as she handed Tidus and Zidane separate hotel keys. 

"Why?" Squall asked, slightly suspicious. 

"Wake up call," Tifa said. "I want us to have brunch tomorrow to discuss the race." Squall nodded. 

"523," Squall mumbled. "At the end of the hall." 

Tifa nodded and Cloud looked over at her. "Umm...where's my room key?" 

Tifa smiled deviously at the blond who was covered with bags. She slipped the last key beneath her white shirt, between her breasts. "With ME." 

* * *

Irvine just got back to his condo when his phone rang. Grumbling, he lifted it up and brought it to his ear. "Hello?" he asked as he took off his hand and began to shrug off his thick jacket. 

"Hi, Irvine!" Rinoa's cheerful voice said on the line. 

"Hey! Back already?" he asked casually. 

"Yes," she said, her voice still sweet. Rinoa was standing up in her room, pacing the area before her large canopy bed. "So did you get your laundry?" 

"Laundry?" Irvine asked. His eyes went wide. "Uh...right! My laundry! Yeah...you know what, I should've just taken it to the dry cleaners...I mean...I just can't get rid of that one lipstick stain-" 

"You're a bad lair, Irvine..." Rinoa said in a sing song voice. The cowboy froze in his spot by his half empty fridge. 

He let out a nervous chuckle. "Rin, why would I lie to you?" 

"I really don't know, Irvine," Rinoa shrugged. "Why WOULD you lie to me?" 

Irvine leaned against the counter and ran his hand through his hair. "See? And I wouldn't." 

"There you go again...lying to me," Rinoa sighed. "How could you, Irvine? I thought we were friends..." 

"Of course we are!" Irvine gasped. "Rinoa, I'm not lying to you!" 

"So you weren't by my house earlier?" 

"No." 

"And I probably just saw some guy who looked like you?" 

"I guess...you saw it not me." 

"And the guy was wearing your clothes, your black hat, and was in YOUR car." 

"Hey, I have good taste-" 

"And the guy in the passenger's seat WASN'T Squall?" Rinoa continued. Irvine froze. Rinoa nodded to herself, her suspicions haven't been confirmed. "Irvine," she said as he held out a steady pause. "Why is Squall in Deling City?" 

Irvine coughed. "Rin, you must've been mistaken. Squall isn't here-" 

"Don't LIE to me, Irvine!" Rinoa growled. "Tell me the truth! I know what I saw! It makes sense WHY you weren't at my shoot! You were with HIM! Why didn't you tell me!?" 

"Because he told me not to!" Irvine retorted back. "Dammit, Rin, just drop it-" 

"How can I possibly drop it!?" Rinoa shouted back. "Are you forgetting about what's going on between us, Irvine!?" 

Irvine ran his hand down his face, frustrated. Rinoa swallowed hard, feeling slightly bad for yelling at Irvine. In his usual calm voice, Irvine replied. "Listen...I know how you feel about him. But he has his reasons for not wanting you to know. He just doesn't want you to worry about him." 

"Why?" Rinoa asked quickly. "What's going on?" 

"Nothing, don't worry about it-" 

"Fine, I'll ask him myself," she asserted. "Where is he staying?" 

"What? Rin, I can't tell you that." Irvine gasped, as if she had gone mad. 

"Just TELL me where!" 

"Even if I do, how are you going to get there?" Irvine asked. "I doubt Auron's going to take you and if I take you, Squall's going to kick my ass for squealing on him." 

Rinoa grumbled to herself. "Fine...at least tell me where so I can try to call him there," she said tiredly as she sat on the foot of her bed. "It'll be a local call anyway..." 

Irvine thought for a moment. "All right...but I didn't say anything." 

"Fine." 

"He's staying at the Deling Hotel." Irvine told her hesitantly. Rinoa nodded. 

"Thanks," Rinoa said. "Good night." 

"Wait a second! Promise me you won't go-" The line went dead and Irvine looked down at his phone. He frowned. "Dammit, Rin..." 

Back in her room, the young woman grabbed a beanie from her closet and shoved it on her head, making sure it hid her hair. She put on a long sleeved baby blue duster under her black, sleeveless, thigh high dress. She grabbed some boots from her closet and shoved them on her feet. 

She walked to her bedroom door and locked it. She reached out and turned off the lights in her room. Rinoa gently patted Angelo's head as she passed the sleeping dog on her bed. Without hesitation, she headed for her balcony. She opened the French doors, letting in a gust of cold night wind. She narrowed her eyes and stepped into the stone half circle shaped platform. 

She looked back at her room and closed the doors. Rinoa checked her watch. The night security would have started already, but they would still be on the other side of the house. She checked the security cameras around the house. She mentally swore, knowing that there were too many for her avoid. If she fried the circuits with her powers, they would come to check on her and she would not be there. 

There had to be a place where she could leave without being seen. As she gripped the edge of the balcony railing, she smiled slightly. Her eyes were drawn to the cellar doors just to the right of her balcony. From there, she could sneak into a pathway going over the city's sewer system. 

She looked around, making sure that the security guards were no where in sight and that the security cameras were scanning away from her. The one right over her balcony was turned away and she jumped on the thick railing. She looked down at the fall before her and took a deep breath. *Come on, Rinoa...you've taken worse in the Garden training room!* 

With that in mind, she jumped from the edge of her balcony, landing on the soft grass. She made a dash towards the cellar doors and slipped into the unlocked old wooden doors with ease. She didn't notice that on her way down, she had dropped the phone on the lawn. 

From the shadow beneath her balcony, a man leaned against the wall, swirling a glass cup half filled with liquor. He took a shot of it and let out a breath. "If she's going to sneak out...she has to cover her tracks better..." the man with the squinting eye mumbled as he walked out from underneath the balcony. 

He lifted his foot and fixed the imprint of Rinoa's landing on the ground and picked up his phone. 

* * *

Rinoa checked her watch as she stood in front of the Deling Hotel. It had taken her a grand total of three hours to reach her destination. She had gotten lost in the sewer system before managing to sneak out through an open duct. It was then that she realized just how insanely clean the sewers were. She didn't even smell coming out of them. 

She decided to go through some of the lesser known streets before she reached the hotel. She looked up at it's form, reading the name of the hotel on the sign at the top floor. Almost all the lights were on in the hotel. Irvine had once told her that it was because the G-14 started the next night at midnight that people wouldn't go to sleep until the morning so they could get up to watch it. 

In order to kill time, the people would throw massive room parties. There wouldn't be a day during the G-14 where a party was closed for being too wild and disturbing other guests. Rinoa tugged her hat around her head and entered the hotel. As she entered the lobby, she looked around and frowned. 

There were people talking and drinking all over the lobby. Because everyone was buying from the hotel bar, which seemed to be packed at that time, the hotel wasn't complaining. Rinoa's eyes drifted over to the registration desk and she quickly made her way over there. "Excuse me," she said as she leaned against the desk. "But I'm looking for the room number of one of your guests." 

"Are you a guest here, too?" the female clerk asked. Rinoa shook her head slightly. 

"No, he's my boyfriend-" 

"What's his name?" 

"Squall Leonhart." she said. The female clerk sighed and shook her head. 

"I'm sorry, miss, but Mr. Leonhart has specifically asked to make sure no one gets his room number. And truth be told, many women have come here claiming to be his girlfriend." the clerk told her. 

Rinoa frowned and narrowed her eyes. "You don't understand. I REALLY am his girlfriend-" 

"If you're his girlfriend, how come he hasn't given you his room number himself, hmm? Ever think of that?" the clerk snapped. 

Rinoa let out a low grumble and stepped back from the counter. "Well...thanks for nothing," she hissed. She turned around. *Three hours...it took me THREE hours to get her...I got lost in the sewers...I was almost hit by a car... weird guys tried to pick me up...and I can't even SEE him!* 

She took a deep breath as she sulked towards the door, not knowing what else to do. It was then that a four people were dragging someone out of the hotel bar. "I'm telling you HIC I'm fine! HIC!" an obviously drunk blond was proclaiming. 

"This is all YOUR fault!" Cloud snapped at the young man with the layered blond hair. "I told you not to challenge him to a drinking contest!" 

"Hey, he didn't have to accept it!" Zidane said as he held up Tidus' other arm over his body as Cloud held the other side. "It's an obvious sign that he's questioning his manhood." 

"Just please help me get him to his room..." Yuna pleaded, embarrassed to see Tidus staring at her chest, as if hypnotized. 

Tifa was standing behind them, her head shaking. She lifted her head to say something when she saw someone slowly walking towards the door. "Rinoa...?" she mumbled. She looked at the others. "You guys get him to the room. Yuna, try to find some hang over medicine for the idiot. I'll be right back." 

"Where you going?" Cloud said as they dragged the drunk Tidus around the lobby rather carelessly. 

"Don't worry!" Tifa said. She was already running away from them. She tried to look over the crowds to the figure disappearing outside the hotel. She ran forward. "Hey! Hey! Rinoa!" 

The dark haired girl's head perked up at the sound of her name and turned around. *It's that racer lady!* Rinoa thought to herself. She stopped just outside the doors and allowed Tifa to catch up to her. "You're...um...the racing queen?" 

"Tifa," the other brunette laughed. "I'm glad I caught you before you left," she studied the young woman's face and frowned slightly. "I take it from your expression, you didn't see Squall." 

"I don't know which room..." Rinoa sniffled. "I sneaked out of my house...came here by foot...and after three hours of that, I still can't see him," she laughed bitterly. "Just great, huh?" 

"You can't give up now," Tifa said. "You're already here. And how come you don't know his room number? Didn't he tell you?" 

"I didn't even know he was here," Rinoa explained. She closed her eyes and ran her hand down her face. "Oh, Hyne...what if he doesn't even want to SEE me-" 

"Wait a second," Tifa said. "I thought everything was fine between you now," she told Rinoa. The younger girl looked up, confused. "I mean...he's racing tomorrow-" 

"He IS!?" Rinoa gasped. "HOW!?" 

"I was just going to ask you that," Tifa said. "He just showed up and I'm not one to ask questions so long as he can race." 

Rinoa looked down at the ground in dismay. "He...he never even told me..." 

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "He's in room 523," she stated. She put her hands on Rinoa's shoulders and pushed her back into the hotel. "Go talk to him." 

"But what if he doesn't want to see me-" Rinoa began, but Tifa shook her head. 

"You didn't spend three hours on foot after sneaking out of your house for nothing," Tifa said. They headed towards the elevators and Tifa pressed the up button. After a few seconds, one of the five elevators opened and she placed Rinoa inside. Just to make sure the girl didn't get lost, she pressed the 5 button before leaving Rinoa in the elevator. "Good luck." 

* * *

The knocking seemed never to end as Squall rolled over in the thin bed sheets of his single bed room. He grumbled and closed his eyes tightly. He didn't know when the knocking started, but as he looked at his clock, it had been three minutes and whoever was there was still knocking. 

*Damn! I better just answer it or I'll never get any sleep!* he thought miserably. He grabbed the edges of his covers and threw them over his bed. His bare legs swung out over the edge of the bed as he sat up. He scratched his biceps as he got up and walked towards the locked door clad in dark blue boxers that said 'SeeD' in gold letters around the edges. 

Mentally swearing the entire time, he didn't bother to look out the peep hole. He was going to yell at whoever was bothering him and his precious sleep. His nimble, callused fingers unlocked the door and pulled it open. Through his sleepy eyes, he could barely make out the figure of a woman standing in front of him, but all his senses flooded with her. "Rino-" 

*SLAP* Squall's face moved to his right slightly as a sharp pain shot through his face. His eyes were wide open as he turned back to the young woman. Tears were rimmed in her soft brown eyes as she looked up at him, looking betrayed. His heart suddenly began to beat quickly at the mere sight of her, despite the fact that she had just slapped him. 

Rinoa stood there, looking up at the face she had just hit. She had been so confused and then hurt, she didn't know what else to do. Why hadn't he told her he was there? Why didn't he give her his room number? Why? Did he still even care about her? Thousands of questions ran through her head at that moment, but the strongest one contained a mixture of fear and betrayal. What if he wanted to break it off with her because she was a sorceress? 

Squall just stared at her, dumbfounded. He made no move to step aside or to close his door. He just stood there. Her lower lip trembled as her shaking hand rose once more. Squall didn't move as her soft finger tips caressed the area that she had hit just moments before. His cheek didn't even flinch, rather, she felt it grow warm under her touch. There was a slight red mark, but she knew it would disappear soon. 

She took a deep breath as she stepped forward and slipped her arms around his neck, pulling herself against him. Rinoa buried her face against his shoulder as Squall stood there, still in shock that she was there and had just slapped him. She closed her eyes as the heat of his bare body wrapped around her. His arms went around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. His beating heart raced against her's as his hands rose from her body and cupped her face intently. 

He gently pulled her head away from her. She looked up into his eyes, transfixed by the crystalline color as he lifted the beanie over her head and threw it over his shoulder. Her dark hair came tumbling down around her face and he swept back from stray bangs. Blue eyes studied her face. He had missed feeling the warmth of her breath against him when they were close. His thumb gently ran across her parted lips. 

Rinoa closed her eyes as his heart quickened. Hard lips pressed against hers, almost roughly, in their needy quest to be assured that she was really there. She let out a gasp of air as he pulled her into the room, closing the door securely behind her. She was pushed back against the door as his mouth assaulted hers. His body pressed against hers, pinning her against the solid door. 

Squall's right hand fumbled with the door locks as his left hand held her securely around the waist. Her breath was ragged as his lips lifted hers and exploded the sensitive areas below her chin. Part of her wanted to cry out in pleasure, yet part of her wanted him to stop. She had come to talk to him, not just see and touch him. 

Regardless of what her mind wanted, her body had a will of it's own. Her arms were running down his perfectly chiseled back while her leg ran up against his. "Why...?" she gasped out. She opened her eyes as she felt him slow down to a stop. He pulled away from her reluctantly. 

His hands fell from her body and suddenly she felt naked and abandoned. Dark, messy hair fell over his face as he stepped back. He swallowed hard and ran one hand through his hair. "What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to sound angry as his eyes looked away from her. 

Rinoa narrowed her eyes. "I'm here to see you!" she said. "Why didn't you tell me you were in Deling City!?" she demanded. 

"I didn't want you to know-" 

"Why?" Rinoa gasped. "Didn't you want to see me?" 

Squall looked at if that was an unheard of question. "Of course I want to see you!" he nearly shouted. Rinoa jerked her head back. "Hyne, Rinoa, I didn't want you to worry!" 

"Is it that you don't want me to worry or is it that you don't want ME anymore!?" she sobbed out. Squall raised his head to look at her. Rinoa's eyes were shedding tears down her soft face as she turned her head away and tried to wipe the tears away with her hand. "It's because of what I am, isn't it?" she asked, disgusted. 

"What?" Squall asked. "No, Rinoa-" 

"I never got a hold of you after I told you," Rinoa breathed out sharply. "I thought that you really meant all those things you said on the phone. But, whenever I tried to call you afterwards, I haven't been able to reach you." 

"I've been busy." Squall answered. 

"Avoiding me." she concluded. 

"Will you stop it?" Squall snapped. Rinoa turned to glare at him, but failed. He was giving her a concerned look. "I made up my mind to come here just yesterday. I've been packing and traveling." 

"You haven't been answering your cellular phone." she said, still not believing him. 

"What am I supposed to say if you called?" Squall asked, slightly annoyed. "I was trying to come here in secret-" 

"Some secret!" Rinoa snapped. "Irvine knew!" 

"Irvine picked me up! He had to come and get me and keep it from you. Don't blame him, blame me!" 

"I AM blaming you!" 

"Then I'm sorry!" Squall shouted. They were now standing across the room from each other, their eyes locked as they tried to calm themselves down. Rinoa ran her hand down her face as her head dropped. "Look, this has nothing to do with you being...being what you are. To tell you the truth, I couldn't care less what the hell you are," he spat out easily. Rinoa closed her eyes. "You are what you are," he continued in a softer voice. "And I'll love you, no matter what." 

Rinoa felt her legs want to give up under her, but she held her ground. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to be in the G-14?" she asked weakly. "Why are you keeping it a secret from me? Especially if you say you love me?" 

"I didn't want you to have to worry about it," Squall assured her. "That's all." 

"How did you get to go? Did Cid retract the punishment?" Rinoa asked. 

Squall paused slightly. He nodded. "Yes," he answered simply. "Rinoa...I didn't want you to know because they you'd want to see me. And I want to see you, too, but your father still doesn't approve-" 

"I don't care!" Rinoa gasped. "I want to see you! I've missed you so much...I..." She took a deep breath and tried to collect her thoughts. "I love you so much..." 

Squall walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her. "Hyne, I love you..." he whispered softly. She buried her face against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'd never hurt you...even if the world turned against you, Rinoa, I'll protect you." 

"I don't understand you..." she said, her voice muffled against him 

"I don't even understand myself." Squall murmured. His hand gently caressed her hair as her arms held on to him. 

Her lips trembled as she clung on to him tighter. "Can...can I stay with you tonight...?" she whispered reluctantly. 

Squall gently pushed her away and shook his head no. "You sneaked out didn't you? They'll be looking for you." Even as he said those words, he secretly hoped that she would stay. 

"I don't care." He felt relieved. 

"But I do," he answered calmly, trying to suppress his emotions that the time for her sake. He cupped the left side of her face with his hand. "Rinoa...I don't want you to get hurt." 

"How could you ever hurt me?" she whispered, completely assertive of the fact that he never would. 

He took deep a breath to calm himself before he kissed her softly. It was much gentler than the kisses he had showered on her previously. It was long, tender, and sweet. He could taste her flavor as his other hand lifted up and slipped underneath the shoulder of her duster. He lifted it up and pushed it over her shoulders, revealing creamy pale shoulders. 

"I'm capable of hurting you," Squall assured her as his lips trailed down her neck. "Trust me." 

"I do trust you," Rinoa insisted, as she tilted her head back. Her body shivered with the feeling of his lips against her smooth skin. "That's why I don't care." Squall pulled away from her. 

Silence took over the room as they stared at each other in the dark. Only the soft moon light from Squall's open window light up the room. Their bodies were touching and as they stood there, Rinoa blushed. *If anything happens during the race...this might be the last time I'm with her...* Squall thought to himself. *I should make it count.* 

He looked over at his messy bed. Rinoa followed his gaze and blushed even more. Before she could look back at him, his arms went under her knees and her back as she was lifted up. She let out a yelp as he silently carried her to bed and gently placed her on the soft covers. Her entire body flushed as her heart threatened to explode. 

Rinoa watched with anticipation as he went around the bed to the side he had been sleeping on. She kicked off her boots quickly and shrugged off her duster. She tossed it mindlessly to the floor. Her heart was racing as Squall sat down next to her. He then laid on the bed and looked up at her. She smiled and laid down next to him. 

He took her arm and pulled her toward him. She rested her head on his bare chest as her arm fell over his flat stomach. His arm went around her shoulders as his other hand lifted up the blankets over their entangled bodies. He kissed the top of her head as she snuggled against him and smiled. "Good night..." she whispered. 

Squall smiled slightly. "I actually did have something else I wanted to do with you... or to you, depending on how you look at it..." he chuckled with a grin. Rinoa smirked. 

"It's too late," she told him calmly as her hand slowly ran over his chest and stomach. "I'm going to sleep now." 

Squall nodded slightly. "Rin..." he said as her eyes closed. 

"Hmm?" 

"Whatever you hear while I'm away...just remember that I could never hurt you," Squall said softly. "I'll do...anything to protect you." 

Rinoa nodded. "I'll be here waiting for you," she whispered. "When you cross that finish line, I'll be there. Waiting." 

"Is that a promise?" 

"Yeah...I promise. I'll wait as long as it takes." 

* * *

One of Squall's eyes opened reluctantly at the sound of knocking on his door. He looked over at the person still clinging on to him and smiled. The bright morning sunlight was filtered through the open blinds and cast stripes of light against her sleeping figure. Messy dark hair was scattered around her head as she shared his pillow. 

The knocking continued and he glared at the door. Slowly, he slipped out of Rinoa's grasp. He heard her whimper out as he managed to leave the bed. He stretched out slightly before walking towards the door. He unlocked it, careful to be quiet so as not to wake Rinoa. 

"What?" he grumbled as he opened the door a crack. Cloud was standing there, also looking partially dead tired. 

"Tifa says to wake up so we can all have brunch together," Cloud yawned. "Afterwards, you can go back to sleep or whatever." 

Squall nodded. "Fine." 

"And Squall," Cloud said as he turned around and headed down the hall. "Put some damn pants on." 

Confused, the brunette looked down. He slammed the door closed and heard a giggle behind him. He turned around and saw Rinoa sitting up with her knees brought to her chest. The white sheets were tucked under her arms. "Personally, I can live you with not wearing pants." 

Squall immediately turned red as he covered himself and rushed to the bed. He grabbed one corner of the sheets and pulled. Rinoa pulled back. "Come on, Rin! Give me a break!" he said as he tugged on the sheet. 

"But it's a good look for you!" she said. "Nude is very you." 

"Funny." 

"I know," she smirked. Squall gave one final tug and the white sheets flew from her body. "Hey!" she screamed as she quickly wrapped her arms around herself and glared at him. 

"And you thought nude looked good on me..." he grinned. She stuck her tongue out at him as he threw the sheets over her. As she tried to dig her way through the mountain of white sheets, two warm arms wrapped around her. His lips grazed hers lightly as his hands ran up the sides of her body. "Good morning." he breathed. 

Rinoa opened her mouth to reply when someone knocked on the door again. Squall let out a low grumble and Rinoa laughed lightly. "Do you want me to get it?" she asked as she stroked his hair. He shook his head. 

"I'll get it..." he mumbled. He got up, grabbing his discarded boxers from the night before and quickly pulling them up before he got to the door. He opened it up and narrowed his eyes. "Who are you...?" 

"My name is Auron," said the man in the dark suit. From inside the room, Rinoa's head perked up. "I'm Rinoa's bodyguard." 

"Oh my Hyne!" Rinoa yelped out. She grabbed her dress and put it on before rushing towards the door. She grabbed Squall and pulled him away. "Auron, what are you-" 

"Your father is wondering why you did not join him for breakfast," he said, displeased. "I had to call him and tell him that we were at a shoot." 

Rinoa ran her hand down her face as Squall looked at her from behind the door. "I'm sorry, I just got caught up-" 

"Get your things," Auron said sternly. "He told me he doesn't want you to leave the mansion tonight." 

"What?" Rinoa gasped. "Why not!? I was going to go to the G-14 with Irvine tonight! He even said I could go!" 

Auron didn't fidget. "He didn't say why," he answered simply. "But if I were you, I'd ask Mr. Leonhart." 

Rinoa nodded understandingly. "I'll meet you at the lobby. I'm sorry about this." 

Auron merely nodded and Rinoa closed the door. Squall was in the room, pulling out clothes from a bag. She turned to look at him and frowned. "He knows." 

"How...?" Rinoa asked. Squall closed his eyes and paused. "I wanted to see you off." 

Squall stopped what he was doing and slowly turned around. "Do you remember a few weeks ago? We both knew you weren't going to be able to see me off." 

Rinoa nodded. "I said I'd watch you on television." 

Squall smiled slightly and walked over to her. "And when your concert is broadcasted, I'll be watching you." 

"It's not the same, Squall." 

"I know," Squall said. He gently caressed her face. "But it'll have to do for now." 


	11. Get Set Go

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Eleven: Get Set - Go!_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** More "Eternally" lyrics used below. Okay, so I used like one line, but there is one part where Squall says it's not just a fantasy, there's a lyric that says 'it's just a fantasy'. Think about it. -_-;; 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

The door closed behind her and Rinoa took a deep breath. "Father! I'm home!" she shouted. 

"How was your shoot?" General Caraway asked as he walked out from the dining room holding a bagel. "Did you eat breakfast yet?" 

Rinoa nodded, although she hadn't eaten anything since the night before. "Yes. The shoot was tiring. We're not even done yet." 

"Is this for clothes again?" Caraway asked. Rinoa nodded once more. 

"Not just any clothes," Rinoa stressed as she expertly lied to her father. Actually, it was not a complete lie. She had been modeling Valentine brand clothing the night before. "These were designed by Vincent Valentine himself. THE Vincent Valentine. Do you know who he is?" 

"A designer?" 

Rinoa rolled her eyes. *Hyne, he can be so dense...* "Obviously," Rinoa sighed. "I'm going to go up to my room." 

"I won't be around for lunch or dinner," Caraway said. "I have to go to the race-" 

"About that," Rinoa said, a frown on her face as she turned around from where she was standing half way up the stairs. "Auron said that I can't go any more! Why not? You said I could. Irvine and I had everything planned." 

Caraway merely shook his head and looked her straight in the eye. "I went to see the area the other day and it's in a dangerous place. Young women like you should not go to places like that." 

"But I'll have Auron and Irvine there!" Rinoa gasped. *You lying bastard! It's because SQUALL is there!* 

"It doesn't matter," Caraway said. "It's dangerous. It's loud, noisy, rowdy - if you were to scream, no one hear you over the roars of the crowd." 

"But-" 

"No buts, Rinoa," Caraway's voice was stern and Rinoa narrowed her eyes. "You are NOT going anywhere NEAR the race, do you understand me? Especially tonight." 

Rinoa wanted to lash out. To tell him that the only reason he wouldn't let her go was because Squall was there. But if she had done that, she would have ratted herself and her faithful body guard out. Her fists shook at her sides as she turned and stomped up the curved marble stair case. 

* * *

"So Squall," Zidane said casually as he drank his coffee. "Heard you were with your girlfriend last night." 

"Zidane," Squall replied in an equally casual voice. "I heard you want me to pour your coffee down your pants." 

"Never mind." Zidane swallowed. Cloud snickered and Tifa shook her head. 

"Waiter!" Tifa shouted, raising her hand to attract the attention of a waiter. 

"Tifa, PLEASE," Tidus mumbled across from her. He was clutching his head as he stared down into his coffee. His head was throbbing and every sound resonated in his head a hundred times worse than usual. "Ah...dammit..." 

"You wouldn't have this problem if you didn't get drunk last night." Cloud scolded. 

"Shut up..." 

"And you were all over Yuna," Tifa added with a frown. "The girl was close to macing you." 

"She was not!" Tidus retorted pitifully. "And I wasn't all over her..." he pouted. 

"You stared at her chest before reaching out and saying 'whoa...they're like...REAL'," Zidane added. Tidus tried to glare at him but his head ache didn't let him. "You missed it, Squall. It was pretty funny." 

"Did you two have a good talk?" Tifa asked concerned as she pushed her mug towards a waiter and had him fill it. 

"Yes." Squall mumbled. He continued to eat his breakfast in silence. As he thought about Rinoa, he struggled to contain his blush. Right before she left, she kissed him shyly and softly on the lips and wished him the best of luck. He missed her already. 

"Good, are you all set for the race?" Cloud asked cheerfully. Squall nodded slightly. 

"I heard that Rinoa was going to sing the Galbadian anthem, but she was pulled out," Tifa said with a disappointed frown. "They said that she got sick and couldn't make it to the opening ceremonies..." 

All eyes, except for Tidus who was suffering from his hang over, looked upon Squall. The handsome brunette didn't utter a single word out loud. *Her bastard father pulled her out. She's not sick. He just doesn't want her near me...* he thought bitterly. 

Tifa looked over at Cloud and the others. Zidane wanted to say something, but she shook her head. "At any rate," Cloud said. "Get some more sleep before the race tonight. We'll wake you for practice!" 

Squall nodded and lifted his cup of coffee. The darkness within the mug reminded him of Rinoa's hair and eyes and he frowned. It was going to be a long two weeks. 

* * *

"Irvy!!" 

"Selphie!" 

"Irvy!" 

"Selphie!" 

"Oh, shut up already!" Seifer growled as the short brunette ran into the arms of the tall cowboy. He dramatically picked her up and swung her around as she hugged him. 

Quistis chuckled as Zell looked up at the massive buildings that were all around Deling City. "They're huge..." he mumbled. 

"Zell, you've been on missions here before." Quistis told him. 

"Yeah, but I've never been in the heart of the city like this," Zell answered. He looked over at Irvine and smiled. "Hey! Nice to see you again!" 

"Thanks for taking care of Squall for Rinoa," Irvine said as he greeted Zell and Raijin, and Fujin with hand shakes. He reached over to hug Quistis with Seifer stepped in his way and glared at him. "Right..." 

"So what are we going to do first?" Selphie said as she rubbed her hands together. "We already checked into the hotel..." 

"What time does the race start?" 

"Opening ceremony is at eleven," Irvine explained as they stood in the lobby of the Deling City Hotel. "But the race will officially take off at twelve midnight." 

"What about the tickets?" Selphie asked. 

"Open seating," Irvine assured her. "But I can get us into the VIP section." 

"Booyaka! Way to go, Irvy!" Selphie said as she jumped up and down excited. 

"Rinoa?" Fujin asked, looking around. 

"House arrest," Irvine sighed. "Squall's in, Rinoa's banned from going." 

"But I thought she was going to sing, ya know." Raijin said with a frown. Irvine nodded. 

"She was, but her father had Highwind, our manager, pull her out last minute," Irvine sighed. "I don't know how he did it, but Caraway let him enter the race." 

"Well, Squall isn't a commander for nothing," Zell nodded. "I'm hungry, where can I get some food?" 

"There's a diner around the corner-" Irvine began when a loud shout cut through the hotel lobby and out to the front doors where they were standing. The group ran inside and froze. 

"It's HIM! It's LEONHART!!" someone screamed behind them. The group turned around and watched as Squall strode out of the elevators wearing all black leather. His blue eyes went wide as a wave of women suddenly wash down upon him. 

They were screaming and reaching for him as Squall tried, in vain, to rid himself of the women by scowling and pushing ahead. "We should help him." Selphie said. Everyone nodded, but remained rooted in their spots. 

"So...whose going?" Quistis asked, noticing that no one was making an effort to move. Everyone seemed to avoid her eyes and she grumbled. "Fine! I'll do it!" She turned and grabbed Seifer's arm. "Ahem..." She shoved Seifer on to Irvine. "Oh my Hyne! World famous models Seifer Almasy and Irvine Kinneas are making out in the lobby!" 

As if called by an unknown force, the women who were bombarding Squall turned their heads, giving the brunette just enough time to rush past them. He returned their wave as he dashed out the door to an awaiting taxi that would take him to the track. 

Irvine had fallen over a couch and Seifer was on top of him. "Get off of me!" Seifer growled viciously. 

"YOU'RE on ME!" Irvine shouted back. He shoved Seifer off and the tall blond fell over to the his side. Raijin grabbed his arm and helped him up as Selphie helped up Irvine. 

Seifer was dusting off his white jacket when he looked up and saw rows of women staring at them. "WHAT!?" he barked. Immediately, they scattered and he turned his deadly glare on to a calm and composed looking Quistis. "I can't believe you just did that!" he growled. "Now they think I'm gay!" 

"Oh please..." Quistis snorted. She crossed her arms and looked right at him. "At any rate, Seifer, no one will think that. You're much to...well, let's just say you couldn't even count for metrosexual." 

"I don't care what think about Kinneas, but I have to correct this problem!" Seifer said. He grabbed Quistis' arm and pulled her forward possessively. 

"What?" Quistis spat out, unimpressed. "I'm supposed to kiss you now?" 

"Hey, where did Squall go?" Irvine said as he dusted off his clothes. He was attempting to play off what had just happened. "Oh...he must've gone to the track to practice." 

"Well, the opening ceremony is several hours away," Selphie said as she ignored Seifer and Quistis' arguing. "What should we do?" 

Irvine thought about it for a while and smiled. "You want to visit Rin?" 

* * *

Seifer frowned as he paid the cab driver several gil. Irvine had claimed that his car only held four people, conveniently enough for him, Selphie, Quistis, and Fujin. Which left Raijin and Seifer to take a cab to the Caraway mansion. Irvine had driven up to the gate and was let in. They drove up the drive way to the mansion and got out of the cars. 

"Whoa...what does Rinoa's father do again?" Zell asked. 

"He's the General of the Galbadian army." Quistis explained easily. Zell swallowed. 

*Geez...* Zell thought to himself as they walked up the steps to the front doors. *Way to pick 'em, Squall...* 

Irvine knocked on the door loudly and stood with the others. Seifer was standing behind the group and looked around the sprawling, lush, green front lawn. He remembered driving up that very drive way one summer to meet Rinoa on a date. He smirked to himself as he remembered the door opening to a very angry looking General Caraway. 

He heard the door unlock and open to one of the maids with a tall looming male figure standing behind her. "I'll get it," said the middle aged man with the sunglasses on his face. The maid nodded and stepped back inside as he stepped forward. "What is it, Irvine? Who are these people?" 

"Auron!" Irvine said cheerfully. "Everyone, this is Auron, Rinoa's new body guard. Auron, these are Rinoa's friends from the Garden. This is Selphie, that's Quistis, Fujin, and Raijin. Over there is Zell and the blond that's brooding in the corner is Seifer." 

"I see." 

"May we see Rinoa!?" Selphie shouted out energetically. Auron narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly. 

"She's in the piano room." Auron said. He stepped aside and held the door open for all of them to enter. Irvine lead them through the hallways as the new guests looked around, having never seen Rinoa's home before. 

"So this is how the rich live..." Zell mumbled. 

"Is General Caraway home?" Irvine asked over his shoulder. 

"No, he left for a meeting an hour ago." 

"Great!" Irvine grinned and turned into the hall way. They heard soft piano music being played. It was somewhat broken with pauses in the middle. They entered through two large doors into a high ceiling room with a sitting area and a large black grand piano. 

Sitting on the piano bench was the infamous singer, alternating between playing the piano and notating it on some sheet music. There was a dog next to her that started barking and Rinoa stopped. She looked down at the dog. "What is it, Angelo?" Angelo stood up and barked energetically. Rinoa turned around and her eyes went out. She let out a gasp and stood up. "Irvine! Oh my Hyne! What are you all doing here!?" 

Selphie ran up to hug Rinoa and grabbed on to her just as Rinoa took two steps from the bench. Rinoa hugged her tightly and struggled to hold back her tears of joy as the others approached her. "We're here to see the start of the race!" Selphie said cheerfully. "Quistis talked Cid into letting us all go!" 

"How are you doing, Rinoa?" Quistis asked, concerned as she hugged Rinoa and let her go at arms length. "Are you feeling all right?" 

Rinoa smiled and nodded brightly. "Yeah...I'm just angry that I can't go..." 

Seifer studied her unnervingly. "You see a little too...not angry for someone who can't go..." he mumbled. Rinoa looked down and blushed. 

*I've been compensated via last night...* she thought to herself. She let out a slight cough. "Well...it's too late anyway. The word is out that I'm supposedly sick." 

"We heard, ya know," Raijin said. "We thought you'd be singing the anthem, ya know." 

"I WAS," Rinoa sighed. She sat down the piano bench and ran her hand down her face. "I just found out this morning..." 

"Why did your manager pull you out, anyway?" Selphie frowned. "Don't tell me your dad is THAT powerful." 

"He's that powerful," Seifer said. "Trust me." 

"So what are you doing the whole day?" Selphie said. Fujin was scratching Angelo behind the ear as the dog happily greeted all except for Seifer, who she snarled at every time he got too close. 

"I had a photo shoot, but that's been canceled until tomorrow," Rinoa sighed. "So I'm just practicing." 

"Are you composing something new?" Quistis said as she looked over the sheet of music on the piano. Rinoa followed her gaze and nodded slightly. 

"Actually, I'm just notating an old song for the piano," Rinoa admitted. "I've been working on another piece, but it's not ready yet." 

"Can we hear it?" Selphie asked eagerly. Rinoa chuckled and shook her head. 

"Sorry, but it's not ready yet!" 

"Aww..." Selphie frowned. 

"But, I will play this song," Rinoa said. "Have a seat. Irvine, can you go ask for some snacks?" 

"Sure." the cowboy said as he stood up from his seat in the sitting room couch. His vacant spot was quickly taken up by Selphie as Rinoa arranged some music in front of her. 

"I heard it a while ago and I fell in love." 

"The song is THAT good?" Quistis chuckled. 

Rinoa smiled softly and put her hands on the keys. *I wasn't talking about the song.* 

* * *

Squall was sitting under the shade of one of the garages by the race track drinking from a bottle of water as he waited for his bike to be checked up on by his pit crew. His hair was damp with sweat from the riding he had spent three hours doing earlier. He was going to do another one hour of practice before heading off to take a rest before the race. 

"Can you believe it? Man, that's such a disappointment," he over heard someone said. "Rinoa's such a great singer! I would've loved to see her perform tonight." 

"See, I told you that wasn't her at the Deling City Hotel last night," another man told his companion. "She was sick." 

Squall stared blankly at the clip board in front of him and frowned. "Yeah...but I could've sworn that was her." 

*It was her,* Squall wanted to tell them. He took a deep breath and put the clip board on the table behind him as he leaned forward and closed his eyes. *She's not sick... NOTHING is wrong with her. Nothing at all.* 

"Squall, are you all right?" a voice said in front of him. Squall merely grunted out a reply, but didn't lift up his head. The voice in front of him sighed. "Here." 

Squall's blue eyes glanced up slight and saw a folded out phone in front of him. He raised and eyebrow as he looked up at Tifa. "Who is it?" 

"A young woman named Selphie." Tifa said with a smile. 

Squall narrowed his eyes and realized that she had handed him his phone. He lifted it to his ear. "Hello?" 

"I think you might want to hear this." Selphie whispered in a quiet voice. Squall narrowed his eyes, wondering what the hell the short SeeD was up to, when he heard the clear sounds of a piano echoing. 

Squall felt his world shut down around him as the only thing he heard was the piano playing in his ear. He closed his eyes as the sweet melody wrapped around him, relaxing him yet stirring him at the same time. The soft ballad was so familiar to his ears. No, it was more than that. 

His mind drifted back to a particular moment on a dance floor, in the dim light of a restaurant, as a beautiful young woman held on to him. They had danced in a circle, as if they were the only two people in the room. He could feel her heard against him at that moment as the ballad brought him back to a cherished memory. 

Then her voice rang out. It echoed into the phone, but he could still hear her clearly. As if she were right in front of him. "...watashi tachi wa...doko ni iru no..." 

*Where are we now...?* he thought to himself. He opened his eyes slowly as her voice changed pitch and sang the chorus. He missed her so much suddenly. He remembered how nervous he was when she asked him to dance. Now he wanted to dance with her again. To hold her in his arms. To feel her safe against him. 

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, his eyes glazed over as he listened to her sing and play the song through the phone. Was she thinking of him? Hyne, he hoped she was. A small smile tugged at his lips as the song smoothly came to an end. The last note was played and he heard clapping. 

"Hey, I know that song..." Zell said. "I've heard it before!" 

"Didn't they play it at Xu's birthday party that we had at that restaurant?" Squall heard Selphie asked. 

"Yeah! It was like an instrumental version, right?" Zell asked. "Rinoa, is that where you heard it?" 

Squall held his breath and waited for her to answer. "Yeah," Rinoa said. He smiled as he heard her hesitant. "I wanted to be there, at that moment...eternally." 

"Squall!" a voice cut through his thoughts and he looked up. Cloud was waving him over. "It's ready!" 

"Be right there!" Squall replied with a wave of his hand. "Selphie?" Squall said as he held the phone up. He covered his other ear with his free hand to drown out the roar bikes in the background. 

"Yeah?" the cheerful brunette asked as the others talked to Rinoa in the background. 

"Can you tell Rinoa something for me?" Squall asked. 

"Sure! What is it?" Selphie said. 

"Tell her that it's not just a fantasy." Squall hung up the phone and put it on the table. He shouted and told Tifa to watch it for him before he rushed over to the motorcycle. 

Selphie stared at her phone and looked over at Rinoa. "Hey, Rin!" she said. The dark eyed girl turned to her. "What would you say if I said 'it's not just a fantasy'?" 

Rather than get an answer, Selphie received a warm, thoughtful smile. After a few seconds of silence, Rinoa turned back to her piano. She began to play once more. She wanted to tell them what had happened last night. How she had finally seen him after weeks of being apart. How she fell asleep smothered against him, listening to the steady beat of his heart. And how she woke up wrapped in his strong, protective, not to mention naked, arms. 

She blushed and stood up suddenly. "Why don't we go to the kitchen?" she asked cheerfully, wanting to change the subject. "Since you guys are going to the G-14 without me, you can at least eat dinner with me, right?" 

* * *

The group waved as they piled into Irvine's car. Seifer and Raijin were once again forced to take a cab and Seifer made a big deal about it. After seeing them, Rinoa felt herself relax a little more. The smiles on their faces, telling her that they'd see him off for her. The cars drove away and Rinoa closed the door. She leaned against the frame and looked over at the grandfather clock in the hall way. 

It was ten thirty. Squall would leave the starting line in an hour and a half. "Rinoa," a voice said to her right. She turned her head and saw her body guard standing there. "You look tired. Have a rest and watch some television." 

Rinoa gently pushed herself off the door and headed towards him, but shook her head. "I really don't feel like watching any television right now-" 

"I think you might find it of interest." the man's deep voice told her. Rinoa's eyes narrowed slightly and walked down the hall way and into one of the dens. The huge big screen television was on to a cable show and Rinoa slipped on to one of the couches. 

"Welcome back to our countdown to the Galbadia-14! The most grueling motorcycle race in Gaia! Diving straight back into our introduction of this year's contestant is our correspondent LIVE in Deling City, Wakka!" 

Rinoa watched as the screen jumped to a man with bright orange hair spiked up to a point. He was standing by a railing over looking the starting point within the Deling City race track compound. Behind him, racers were doing some laps around the track as people took their seats. There was also a large screen in the stands across from him where statistics of each contestant was shown. 

"Welcome back, ya!" the orange haired man said brightly as he clutched a microphone. "Back to contestant number 21, a young racer from Balamb, Squall Leonhart." 

Rinoa's eyes went wide as a picture of Squall's face popped up on the screen. His full name, age, weight, where he was from, and what he was racing with showed up to the right of the picture. Her eyes focused on the solemn looking young man on screen. *Even when he's frowning, he's hot...* she thought to herself. 

"Leonhart will be racing for the Lockheart-Strife team based in Balamb. His record time broke records set by the team's very own Cloud Strife, the winner of the G-14 two years ago, ya," Wakka's voice over narrative told the viewers. "Leonhart is also the son of President Loire of Esthar and the president himself has come here today to see his son off." 

Rinoa's eyes went wide. *His SON? He never told me...* she thought to herself. She wasn't paying attention to the correspondent's voice was the television did a pan of the track and landed in a VIP box. There was a man holding binoculars and looking out of the glass window. He was pointing to the track and looking down at a young woman, who shook her head. 

Rinoa smiled slightly. The man looked very warm and friendly and some what childish as he pointed energetically below. The camera went back to the correspondent. "Leonhart's biggest competition is said to be the second place winner two years ago. Sephiroth, representing his personal team, came in second to Cloud Strife and could not compete last year due to an injury..." 

"Auron..." Rinoa said softly. "The G-14 is fourteen days of driving right?" 

"Yes," Auron replied. "Each day they are given twelve hours to rest before twelve hours of straight driving across the continent. However, they do stop for food, gas, and pit checks." 

"What about the danger level?" Rinoa asked. The program on television was now showing a computerized map of the course. 

Auron took a deep breath. "You don't have to worry about-" 

"The heat during the fifth day's ride is said to be suicidal, ya," Wakka was saying. "But even after the desert day right, they have to go through the mountains and endure the long journey back." 

Rinoa's eyes narrowed and she turned to look at her bodyguard. "Auron, is it really that dangerous?" 

The older man took a deep breath and gave her a subtle nod. "It takes a strong man to get through the G-14. Either a strong man or a crazy man. The journey is long, perilous, and the company isn't always the greatest." 

"What do you mean?" 

"The stakes on this are high," Auron told her. He was standing behind the couch as Rinoa looked at the television. "People have put other people's lives at stake. If you win, you'll not only gain respect of your peers, but fame, wealth, and a lifetime of comfort. For some people, it's more." 

"How so?" 

"I've heard of a man who entered the race to clear his father's name. I've heard of another who had to win it or the Mafia would kill him. Men do crazy things during the G-14. Things that aren't chronicled at the resting points and only they know about it." 

"What if you loose?" 

Auron paused for a moment. "Then you loose." 

* * *

"SQUALL!!" Selphie and Zell's combined voices managed to carry over the roar of the crowd over to the pit. There, a brunette's ears perked up and two blue eyes rose. 

He gave the group a questioning look as he stood aside, drinking water. "You still have time." a deep voice said next to him. 

Squall turned his head slightly and saw a tall man standing next to him. Long white hair was tied back at the base of his neck as he zipped up an all black racing suit. Glowing green eyes turned to Squall. "Excuse me?" Squall asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. 

"To see your companions before you leave. You have time," the man said coolly. Squall looked at him suspiciously. After a few moments, the white haired man smirked. "You don't trust me?" 

"I have no reason to." 

"I see you're as stern as they say you are," the other man said. He looked out into the stands of audience around the race track. "I'll admit that I was a bit surprised that Strife and Lockheart were putting a novice like you in the race. But I guess they figured you can take care of yourself." 

Squall glared at him. There was something uneasy about the man. "Who are you?" 

"Squall!" a voice shouted behind him. Squall didn't take his eyes off the man he was talking to. "Squall!!" the voice shouted again. Cloud ran up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Squall, Tifa's looking for you." 

"Right..." Squall mumbled. His narrowed eyes never left the man next to him, even as he turned. Cloud watched him go through the hall way and immediately turned his blue eyes on to the green eyed man. 

"You've picked a good one as your protege, Strife," the man said casually as he lit a cigarette and lifted it to his lips. He took a deep breath and inhaled the smoke. "Not easy to trust others." 

"If there was ever a race where it was do or die, it's this one," Cloud said. "You stay away from him, Sephiroth." 

"Why?" the white haired man scoffed. "Afraid that something might happen to your boy?" 

"You never did play clean." 

"I never play." 

"If anything happens to Squall, you'll be sorry you ever started riding a motorcycle in the first place." Cloud spat out. 

Sephiroth gave an unnerving chuckle. "Your threats have no effect on me," he said. "But in the end, that boy's going to be the only one who'll be any real challenge." 

* * *

"Tifa," Squall said as he reached the little room where Tifa was waiting. She stood up, still dressed as a racing queen in heels and a leather jacket. She handed him an envelope. "What is it?" 

"I ran into your little friends," Tifa told him with a sisterly smile. "They asked me to give this to you." 

"Thanks." 

"I have to go out now and I won't see you until tomorrow when you reach the check point," Tifa said, slightly worried. She cupped his face in her hands and forced him to look up at her. "Good luck, Squall. No matter what happens, think of keeping yourself safe out there." 

Squall merely nodded his head as the large chested woman stepped away from him and exited the room. He looked down at the white and pastel colored envelope in his gloved hands. He sat down in the chair that had been vacated and tugged his gloves off. With skilled fingers he ripped the envelope open and let a folded piece of paper fall into his hands. 

He never realized it before, but she had delicate, flowery hand writing. Just the thought of her slender fingers running across that very paper with a pen made his heart quicken. 

_I'll be waiting. Good luck._

A promise they had made hours ago. A promise he hoped she would keep. He looked down at the note once more and slowly folded it up. He slipped it into his jacket and ran his hand through his hair. *I'll win...* he thought to himself as he heard the door open in front of him. *I'll win for you, Rin...I'll win for us.* 

"Squall," a male voice said above him. He looked up. Zidane was standing there with his helmet. "It's time." 

* * *

"Welcome back to channel 11, Deling City's coverage of the Galbadia-14 opening ceremonies!" Rinoa was curled up in her bedroom. She was wearing sweat pants and an oversized T-shirt as she sat up against the head board of her bed. The large television in front of her was showing images of the opening ceremony. 

As a young woman ascended the platform in the center of the track, Rinoa frowned. It should've been her who was singing the national anthem. She hugged the pillow on her lap as the camera panned around the singer and alternated with images from the racers and their crews who were seated before the front of the stage. 

Every so often, Squall would appear and Rinoa would feel her heart race at the slight image of him. *I hope he got my note...* she thought to herself silently. 

Before long, she was watching them on their bikes at the starting point. Squall was dressed in black and dark blue, his bike matching him. He was number twenty-one, but had no sign to show it. It didn't matter to her. She could recognize him a mile away. 

She watched the counter on the corner of her screen as they counted down to the start. Rinoa swallowed hard as less than minute remained. "Good luck..." 

* * *

"Which one is he?" Quistis asked. She narrowed her eyes as she looked over Selphie's head at the race track. 

"That one!" Selphie said, pointing to the young man straddling the motorcycle in black and blue. "Number twenty-one." 

"They don't have their numbers on them, how am I supposed to know?" Quistis sighed. 

"This is so exciting!" Zell said for the billionth time. 

"You should see how it is when they return," Irvine laughed. "The after parties are AMAZING." 

"To even have a competitor at your party makes it unbelievably cool, ya know." Raijin added. 

"They're counting down!" Selphie shouted. "Three..." 

"Two..." the others chorused. 

"One..." All around them, people began to scream. "GO!!!!" The cloudless night sky exploded in a series of multicolored fire works signaling the start of the race. Everyone began screaming, drowning out the sounds of the motorcycles themselves as twenty-five highly tuned vehicles raced across the track to the gate that opened before them. 

Selphie and Zell jumped up and down in the stands, cheering excessively as Quistis narrowed her eyes worriedly. Seifer glared after Squall. *He better come back in one piece. There won't be any living with Rinoa if he doesn't...* 

In the VIP booth at the top of the stadium race track, a middle aged man jumped up and down like an excited child as he followed Squall with his binoculars. "He's there! He's close to the lead!" he exclaimed proudly. 

"Yes, Uncle, we know...!" Ellone pleaded as she tried to get him off the table he had stood up on. "Please get down!" 

"The contestants have now left the gate and are heading towards the borders of Deling City," the PA system reported. They began to give a run down of the contestants and their places. Laguna held his breath as Kiros and Ward managed to get him off the table. "...and coming in first place is fan favorite, Squall Leonhart!" 

"YEAH!!!" Laguna shouted, echoing the sound of the crowds below. "That's my son!" he exclaimed proudly to the other people in the booth. "That's MY boy!" 

Half the people in the VIP booth looked at him in disdain at his lack of self control. The other half stared at him in shock. "Uncle! Yes! I'm happy, too, but please..." Ellone begged as she tugged on her Uncle's arm in an attempt to get him to sit down. "You're embarrassing us!" 

Behind them, a stern looking man leaned back against his chair as he watched the small monitor in front of him. A helicopter was following the group of bikers as they cut through the city in zoned off streets. People were cheering them along on the side walks as they cut through. 

A series of police cars followed behind them to make sure that a mob would not follow. It had happened several times before. The man narrowed his eyes and picked up his black cellular phone. He dialed the first number on his phone and held it up to his ear. 

"Hello?" a deep voice asked on the other line. 

"Where is she?" 

"In her room, sir," the man replied as he stood outside the doors of Rinoa's bedroom. He listened closely. "I believe she's watching the start of the race." 

"I see," Caraway thought to himself. "Continue your work, Auron." 

"Yes, sir." Caraway hung up and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he leaned forward. 

*I can't let that boy win...* he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. He felt a head ache coming on. *If he wins, he'll crush Rinoa. I can't let him hurt her... I don't want to loose her...* 

"Sir," a voice stated behind him. Caraway opened his eyes and slowly sat up straight. He turned in his chair and saw a lower ranking officer from the Galbadian military standing there with a folder. "The statistics you asked for, sir!" the soldier said formally. 

"Excellent," Caraway replied. He took the folder he was being handed and looked at the soldier. "Dismissed." 

The soldier nodded and saluted him before turning on his heel and leaving the room. As members of the elite Galbadian society and their guests talked amongst themselves in the room, Caraway opened the folder. His dark eyes scanned the statistics of Squall's motorcycle, Squall's time trails, and Squall's own figures. The more he read, the more he began to find himself regretting his deal. 

"Sir! Sir!" a voice said to his right. Caraway looked up and frowned immediately. 

"President Loire," Caraway said as he stood up and extended his hand formally. "Welcome to Galbadia." 

"Thank you, General!" Laguna said cheerfully. "So, what did you think of my son out there?" 

Caraway's jaw locked in it's place as his hand let go of Laguna's. "He seems very skilled." 

"I have no doubt that he'll win!" Laguna told him proudly. "Years of being a SeeD has made him prepared for whatever is out there!" 

"I am sure he is," Caraway mumbled. He clutched the folder against the side of his body. "I hate to leave so quickly after the start, but I have some meetings to attend." 

Laguna nodded understandingly. "Of course, General," he said. He stepped aside as Caraway stepped to the right. "By the way, I'm a big fan of your daughter, Rinoa! She's an excellent singer!" 

Caraway stopped in mid step and closed his eyes. "She takes right after her mother," Caraway said coolly. He began to walk towards the door once more. "As a matter of fact, she even wanted to change her name to her mother's maiden name." 

Caraway reached the elevator doors and pressed the button. He waited for it to open. "Was her mother a singer, too?" Laguna asked. 

Caraway took a deep breath to keep himself from yelling at Laguna and telling the happy President to leave him alone. "She was a singer at a hotel when I first met her," Caraway answered. The doors opened before him. "My daughter is just like her mother," He stepped into the elevator and turned around. "Rinoa is a Heartilly...just like Julia." 

Laguna's eyes went wide as the he heard that name. It had been years since he heard that name uttered. The doors to the elevator closed before he had a chance to run in and continue to ask questions. "Julia..." he whispered softly as he stood there. "Julia Heartilly." 

* * *

*I won't loose my daughter like I lost Julia,* Caraway thought to himself as he quickly strode through he private VIP corridors of the race track. He was heading for the limo that awaited him outside. *Rinoa is all I have left. I can't allow anything to happen to her.* 

He pulled out his phone as he neared the exit. He quickly dialed another number and waited for someone to answer. 

In the crowds, Irvine watched with relaxed eyes as Zell tried to get the attention of another racing queen. Selphie was holding a camera, waiting for one to walk up to Zell so she could take their picture. Seifer was with Quistis, Raijin, and Fujin buying them something to eat. 

He couldn't hear his phone ringing through the shouts of the crowd, but he did feel the vibrations against his leg. He frowned and took his phone. "Hello?" he asked casually without reading the screen to see who was calling. 

"Irvine," a male voice said. Irvine recognized it immediately and felt his heart start to quicken. Something was up and he knew it instinctively. "Meet me in the limo outside at this moment." 

"Sir?" Irvine asked. "Why-" Before he could ask, the phone went dead and he stared at it. 

"Irvy, is something wrong?" Selphie asked. Irvine looked over at her sparkling green eyes and smiled. 

"No...everything's fine," he said, offering her his intent smile. "Listen, can you guys wait a few minutes? I just got a call and I need to take it." 

Selphie looked at him suspiciously. "Okay..." she mumbled. 

"It's not a girl!" Irvine sighed as he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. He kissed the top of her head quickly. "I'll see you all in a bit." 

With that, he disappeared into the crowds. Irvine headed for the front of the track. As soon as he exited, he saw the black limo with it's tinted windows waiting for him. He took a deep breath and looked around before heading towards the stretch vehicle. He opened the door and quickly got into the back of the car. 

"I have a job for you." a deep, stern voice said. Irvine looked up. Sitting at the other end of the limo was a military man holding a thick glass half filled with ice and alcohol. 

"Yes, sir." Irvine nodded. 

"I'll need your shooting skills for this." 

Irvine narrowed his eyes. This wouldn't be the first time he had done something like this. He detested 'jobs' like the one he knew was going to get. "What kind of a job, sir?" 

"I'm worried about Rinoa," Caraway stated. "I'm going to ask you to do this not just because you're the best sharp shooter in Galbadia, but because you are Rinoa's friend." 

"Of course sir," Irvine nodded. *This changes it...This is the first I'm going to be doing something like that for Rinoa...* 

"Do you know WHY I allowed Leonhart to race in the Galbadia-14?" Caraway asked. His dark eyes landed on Irvine's cowboy attired figure. "Despite the threat he is to my daughter?" 

Irvine took a deep breath and shook his head. "No sir, I do not." 

"He's black mailing us, Irvine," Caraway stated. "He knows Rinoa's secret." 

Irvine's eyes widened slightly. No one had told him that Squall knew. Squall hadn't mentioned it at all. "How..." 

"Rinoa probably told him," Caraway concluded. "That girl...She trusts one person and she tells him her deepest secret." 

"But how is he black mailing-" 

Irvine was cut off again. "He came to me and said that if I didn't let him race, he would turn Rinoa in." Caraway mumbled. 

Irvine shook his head. "But...he wouldn't..." the cowboy trailed off. "He loves Rin-" 

"He loves no one but himself!" Caraway growled, making Irvine jump. "I underestimated him! Any man who would be willing to turn in a woman who cares for him so deeply for his own gain loves no one but himself." 

"No..." Irvine gasped. "It can't be. I can't believe it-" 

"The only reason I let him race is because if I didn't he wouldn't told his father about Rinoa," Caraway said. Irvine could feel the desperation in the man's voice. "He was on the phone with President Loire. He was about to tell him, if I didn't let him!" 

"But now he's racing, so he won't turn Rinoa in." Irvine asserted. 

"I don't believe that a man who would dare say such a thing would keep his word," Caraway stated simply. "He'll hold that over our heads whenever he needs something." 

"But, sir, can't you keep Rinoa's records protected?" Irvine asked as he leaned forward, looking concerned. "It's been years and no one but us knows." 

"I don't want to take the risk," Caraway continued. "Rinoa will be hurt by this, but the sooner he's out of her life the better. If she continues her infatuation with him, it'll only grow worse." 

Irvine shook his head. "Sir...you can't possibly be asking me to..." His voice trailed off, not wanting to finish. 

General Caraway nodded his head and drank the rest of the orange-brown liquid inside his cup. He brought the heavy glass back down on his lap and looked Irvine directly in the eyes. "I want you to make sure that he doesn't cross the finish line," he told him. "Irvine...for Rinoa's sake, assassinate Squall Leonhart." 


	12. Between A Rock

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Twelve: Between a Rock (and a Hard Place)_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** (evil laughter) Did everyone enjoy the end of the last chapter? 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

Irvine sat rooted on the black leather seat in the limo. His eyes were glazed over and carried an empty look as the General's words resonated in his ears. Kill Squall? Was the man insane? 

General Caraway's eyes remained on Irvine and studied him for any sign of hesitation. The empty look on his face denied him any sign. "Do you accept?" Caraway asked. 

Irvine could only envision Rinoa. The smile on her face as she talked to Squall. The look of pure joy she had when she mentioned his name. But if Squall had really said those words...How could be betray her? "You want me to kill Squall Leonhart?" 

"Do you want to see Rinoa sealed away in some cold cylinder in Esthar?" Caraway snapped quickly. "Do you want to see her staring back at you with lifeless eyes because YOU couldn't protect her!" 

"I..." Irvine took a deep breath and didn't know what to think. *I just can't see Squall doing that...but it makes sense. How else would he get to ride in the G-14 if he didn't say something like that?* 

"If you cannot do this job, I will find some else who can," Caraway said in an annoyed voice. "I merely assumed that you would not back out as Rinoa is your friend." 

"Sir...I love Rinoa...but how will she take it if Squall is killed?" Irvine reasoned. "I'm worried about her reaction." 

"It is best to get rid of him now while her infatuation is still early. The longer we hold out, the more damage it will do." Caraway stated. 

Irvine slowly felt himself nod. "I understand." 

"You are to take a private helicopter and be dropped off at the end of the week," Caraway said. He lifted up a folder and tossed it on Irvine's lap. "This is all the information about Leonhart, his bike, his team, and the race course." 

"Why at the end of the week?" Irvine asked. Steady hands opened the folder and looked down at the picture of Squall in the file. 

"It's exactly one day after Rinoa's concert," Caraway stated. "She will be able to handle it better after she is elated by her fans." 

Irvine nodded. "Yes, sir..." He closed the folder. "I understand." 

* * *

"Irvy! What took you so long?" Selphie said with a playful pout as he smiled and joined them. 

"I went back to where I left you guys and couldn't find you," Irvine said. He had stopped by his car to hide the file. "But you guys weren't there." 

"Seifer made us move!" Zell frowned. "He said it would be faster that way!" 

"I told you we should've stayed up there and waited for Irvine!" Quistis snapped at the tall blond next to her. Seifer merely shrugged. 

"Maybe I just wanted to loose him." he told her coolly. 

"And MAYBE you just got us lost," Quistis added. She turned back to Irvine. "Anyway, Irvine, what's the plan now?" 

They all looked at him and Irvine felt himself swallow. They were all SeeDs. If not SeeDs then cadets. And Squall was their commander. Their leader and friend. *Their friend who black mailed Rinoa...* he thought to himself. 

"Irvy?" Selphie said. He looked down at her as she grabbed his right arm and smiled. "How about an after party?" 

Irvine looked down at her and smiled. "Sure," he said as casually as he could. He looked up at the others. "There's a club in downtown that's probably in full swing now. Shall we head over there?" 

"Sounds good!" Zell said. 

"Great!" Irvine shouted as Selphie jumped at his side and cheered. "Let's go get drunk!" 

* * *

Her alarm clock went off and Rinoa lifted her arm. She blinked tiredly as yawned. *Five... time to get up...* The sun would rise soon and she had to make it up to her photo shoot by then. She tiredly dragged herself out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. 

Twenty minutes later, she rushed out of her room wearing flip flops and drawn up gray cargo under a black tank top. She had a baseball hat over her face as she ran down the stairs. The maid lifted up a plate as she ran towards the open door. Rinoa grabbed the bagel with the cream cheese spread all over it off the plate as she sped out the door. 

Auron was standing by the car waiting for her and looking at his watch. "Right on time." he said as she practically dove into the back seat. He closed the door behind her and headed for the driver's seat. 

"Am I late!?" Rinoa said as her mouth was stuffed with bagel. 

"No, right on time." 

"Great!" Rinoa knew how Vincent hated it when she was late for modeling his clothes. Not that she ever was, but the man was already a brooding ball, she didn't really feel like oncoming his wrath. 

They arrived at studio and she rushed out. She burst through the doors. "May I speak to you for a moment?" a deep voice said. She turned her head to the man in black suit with the deep red shirt walking towards her. "I have two knew outfits I'm changing in the wardrobe and I need a favor." 

"Sure, Vincent, anything!" Rinoa told him happily as he walked along side of her to the dressing room. 

"I need Seifer," he announced. "Do you know when I can get a hold of him? I have a suit that only HE can model for my evening wear catalog." 

"I'll call him in a moment." she replied. It never ceased to amaze her how Vincent Valentine, the epitome of tall, dark, handsome, rich, creative, with taste, and so on was still single. Then again, maybe it was because he didn't need anyone. 

"I knew I could count on you," the man told her, his voice was solemn the whole time and Rinoa knew that with his height, looks, and that creamy voice of his, the female staff was wrapped around his little finger. Not that he cared. Someone called him over and held up a dress. "No, not THAT one. You know she looks best in blue." 

Rinoa turned her head as passed by the rows of clothes on the rack and stopped. "Whoa..." she mumbled. There was a long red silk dress and Rinoa's mouth dropped. "Vincent, is that for the evening wear?" 

The man nodded. "From my _Whipped_ collection that I've been working on." he mumbled. 

"Do you have a model for it?" Rinoa asked energetically. 

Vincent looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I'm flatter than you like the clothes, Rinoa, however, you're-" 

"Not ME," Rinoa sighed. "I know someone PERFECT for it!" 

The man raised an eyebrow. "Really? And how would you know whose perfect for my dress?" 

"I think I've been modeling long enough to have decent taste, Vincent," Rinoa sighed. "Listen, just give me a chance and I'll make it worth your while." 

"What do you have that you can possibly give me?" Vincent sighed. Rinoa smiled. 

"A 5'8" blond that Seifer would be MORE than willing to model with." 

* * *

"Here he comes!" Tifa said. She waved a flag in the air to attract the rider's attention. 

Tidus rushed out from the tent they had set up at the first check point. "Yeah! He's first!" 

He and Zidane gave each other high fives as a dark, dust covered motorcycle rode into the pit before them. It's rider was also covered in dust, but that did nothing to detour him as he arrived. 

Cloud ran to Squall as the young man pulled into a stop in front of them. "All right, Squall! You're first!" 

"Great," the young brunette said. He removed his helmet and drenched wet hair fell over his face. He got off his bike and stumbled a bit before getting used to standing once more. "Time?" 

"Eight hours, forty-six minutes, fifteen point 7 seconds," Tifa said proudly. "An excellent time." 

"I can do better," Squall said. "Food?" 

"Right this way," Zidane said. "Got everything you need." 

"No coffee," Squall said as he sat down at a table where breakfast food was waiting for him on a white plate. "Just give me water. I want to be able to sleep later." 

"Right," Zidane agreed, knowing that Squall would have to sleep in the day time. He had to rest at least twelve hours before picking and driving to the next check point, which typically would've been a twelve hour ride. However, the sooner one got there, the sooner one could get their twelve hours of rest, and the sooner one could leave. "Here." 

A glass was placed in front of Squall and the young man chugged it down. "Get some rest after this. There's a cot ready for you after you bathe." 

"Tidus and I will check your bike," Cloud said as he pulled the machine under the large canopy. To their side, they heard yelling and he turned and saw a black dressed rider enter. "Sephiroth..." he hissed in a low voice. 

"Eight hours, forty-nine minutes flat..." Tifa mumbled. She glanced over at Cloud worriedly. 

"Don't worry," the blond said as he began to look over Squall's bike. "Squall's not pushing himself." 

"Neither is he." Tifa whispered under her breath. She went over to Squall and looked him over almost motheringly. They had barely finished setting up. The pit crew and team members of the contestants were actually flown over to each check point every day so they could await their rider. 

"Do you have a phone?" Squall said as he finished swallowing some eggs. He tugged off his dusty gloves and Zidane said he'd get a fresh set. 

"Yeah...need to call someone?" Tifa asked as she smirked knowingly and handed him the phone. 

"Whatever..." Squall mumbled. 

* * *

"You look so pretty!!" Selphie gushed as Quistis walked out of Rinoa's dressing room. Her slender figure was drawn out by the beautiful red fabric of the gown. 

Rinoa looked almost devious as she elbowed Vincent. "See? What did I tell you?" 

He grumbled. "Fine..." he sighed and looked over his shoulder. "Where is Seifer?" 

"Hold on a second, Valentine, perfection needs it's time!" a voice shouted from the other dressing room. Rinoa rolled her eyes. 

"He's always like this." Irvine told Selphie as they waited on a set of director's chairs. 

"Have them start with single shots of Quistis then." Vincent told the photographer. 

"Rinoa...I don't know about this..." Quistis mumbled. Her golden hair was curled around her face as the make-up did nothing but bring out her beauty. She was almost glowing as Rinoa, still dressed in one a Valentine original, dragged her to the set. 

"Relax," Rinoa said. She smoothed out Quistis' dress. "You look hot," she winked. "Seifer's going to love it!" 

"I don't care about what Seifer thinks!" Quistis said. Rinoa could detect the faint blush in her face. Rinoa merely smirked and nodded her head. "Really!" 

She stepped away from the set and joined Selphie and Irvine as the photographer began to take pictures of the beautiful, blue eyed blond. At first, Quistis was quite stiff and didn't know what to do. They had arrived early enough just to see Rinoa finishing up one set. 

Next to Rinoa, she heard someone let out a whistle and grinned as she looked up at Seifer. "So...the big baby returns. How's the suit?" 

"Not bad..." Seifer replied with a grin. He glanced over at Vincent, who rolled his eyes. "Could be better." 

"Yeah, I could get a different model..." Vincent mumbled as he walked past them. 

"Glad to see that you're somewhat satisfied," Rinoa said brightly. "Your co-model is waiting." 

"Co-model," Seifer stated blandly. He frowned. "You know, I don't model with anyone else except you and Irvine-" 

"What about her?" Irvine said, cutting him off. Seifer followed Irvine's hand and allowed his mouth to drop as he caught sight of the young woman in the red stretching out over a sofa. 

"Ding ding ding!" Selphie said as she jumped in her seat. "We've got a winner!" 

Seifer merely flicked them off as he took a deep breath and coolly walked towards the set. Rinoa giggled. *And Vincent doubted me...* 

Selphie was jumping up and down in her seat, eating a donut, when her phone rang. She frowned and looked down at her pocket. "Irvy, can you hold this?" she asked sweetly. 

"Sure." He smiled and gingerly took the donut in his hands as she wiped her hands on a napkin and pulled out her phone. 

"Hello, Selphie here!" she answered. Irvine chuckled. Selphie's eyes went wide and she sat up straight. "Really!? What's the time?...NO WAY!!" 

"Selphie, you have to be quiet." Rinoa urged. 

"Hold on, hold on!" Selphie said. She handed Rinoa the phone. "Here!" 

The brunette frowned, confused and hesitantly lifted up the phone to her ear. "Hello?" Immediately her eyes lit up and her entire spirit seemed to go up a level. Irvine instantly knew who was on the other line. 

Rinoa looked around and smiled weakly as she slipped out of her chair and headed to her changing room. "Squall made it in first!" Selphie was telling Zell with animated hand movements. "Yeah! He's at a check point right now." 

Irvine narrowed his eyes slightly and looked over at the closed door through which Rinoa had vanished into with Selphie's phone. Inside, Rinoa curled up on the couch in the corner of the room where she had been sitting when Quistis was being prepared. "Congratulations..." she whispered softly. "Are you okay?" 

She heard him let out a chuckle. "I'm fine," he said. "Tifa is making me take a nap while Cloud and the others fix up my bike. How about you?" 

"Doing great! I'm at a photo shoot right now." 

"Am I bothering you?" he frowned. 

"No!" she gasped. Even if it were here taking pictures, she would've dropped it to talk to him. "Actually, Seifer and Quistis are modeling right now." 

"Quistis?" 

"I talked her into it." 

"I see," he said. "You can talk anyone into anything." 

Rinoa blushed. "Um...I saw your start last night! It was really good. I was impressed." 

"Thanks," he said. "I wish you were there. And I got your note by the way." 

Rinoa blushed even more and nodded. "I'm glad to hear from you thought..." 

"I was going to see if Selphie could rely a message to you from me, but I guess she did us one better," Squall said with a slight smile on his face as he laid down against the cot. "I'm glad to hear your voice."

"I'm glad to hears, too," she smiled. There was a knock on the door and Rinoa heard someone calling for her. "I have to go...they're calling me." 

"I should get some rest before I start up again," Squall agreed. "I'll try to contact you or get Selphie to send you a message about me soon, okay?" 

"Okay!" Rinoa said. "By the way, please take care of yourself. They told me how dangerous the G-14 is..." 

"I'm a SeeD, Rin," he assured her. "I'll be fine," He smiled, silently pleased that she worried about him. "I love you." he added softly before hanging up. Rinoa blushed and closed the phone. 

"Rinoa, you better get out here! I think Quistis is going to kill Seifer!" Selphie's panicking voice said. Rinoa sighed and stood up. 

* * *

"Squall," Zidane's voice cut through his sleep as the brunette blinked his eyes opened. "Squall, get up!" 

The brunette opened his eyes and nearly fell off the cot he was laying on. It was almost a nightmare to open his eyes and immediately see the monkey's face. "Get the hell away from me!" Squall growled as he jerked his head back. 

"Nice to see you, too sunshine," Zidane mumbled, rolling his eyes. "The sun just set. Tifa wants you to grab something to eat before you head out." 

Squall sat up on his cot as Zidane walked around the lone screen that gave Squall some privacy. "How are the times?" 

"You're a good three and a half hours ahead of the last guy," Zidane replied from behind the screen. "After that Sephiroth dude, the next guy came in twenty minutes after you." 

"Got it." Squall mumbled. He stood up and began to do some stretches. He was dressed in his boxers. He had given his worn suit to Tifa to get washed and she had replaced it when a new, identical suit, hanging on a hanger on the screen. He reached out to get it and put it on. 

He put on an white shirt and slipped into the suit, zipping it up to his neck. He walked outside and found the replacement gloves that had been left out for him. His helmet had also been replaced with a cleaner one. Cloud was standing watch at the front of their tent. 

"Your bike is all ready," he said cheerfully. "Tidus just got back with some food." 

"Hope you like steak, buddy!" Tidus said to his left. Squall turned around and saw his meal prepared for him. 

"Thanks," he said. He sat down and began to eat. Tifa was on the phone talking to some assistants about Squall's uniform and how it should be cleaned. Squall continued to eat, having not eaten all day. "How much time do I have?" 

"A hour and forty five minutes," Cloud said, checking his watch. "Did you get enough rest?" 

"Yeah," Squall said. "Thanks for the wake up call. But next time don't send monkey boy." 

"Don't forget to go over the course route with Cloud once more before you leave." Tifa told him as she passed. Squall nodded and finished up his food within a few seconds. 

He sat on a fold out chair to let his food digest as Cloud pointed out the next stage of the route. It was imperative that Squall knew where he was going, especially in the dark. There had been extremely skilled contestants that had gotten lost during some parts the race and they didn't want Squall to go down in G-14 history as one of them. 

Squall looked at the smaller version of the map in front of him and read it as Cloud lectured. "Questions?" 

"Weather?" 

"No rain. Clear skies. Half moon," Cloud said. "You'll have decent visibility even in the dark." 

"Good," Squall mumbled. He took a deep breath and stood up. He jumped a few times and stretched out his body. "Any last words of wisdom?" 

Cloud took a deep breath and seriously thought about it. His eyes went across the check point camp to the tent of the man who came in second to him. "Watch out for Sephiroth." 

Squall stopped stretching and looked over at the shorter man. "Him in particular or all the other races in general?" 

"The other racers don't hold a candle to him," Cloud replied. He looked over at Squall. "He'll catch up with you when he feels like it, but I have a feeling that he's up to something." 

The brunette nodded and cracked his knuckles. "You better get ready to go, Squall!" Tifa called from outside the tent. "It's almost time!" 

"See you at the next check point, man!" Tidus said cheerfully. 

"Good luck!" Cloud and Zidane added. Squall nodded and grabbed his helmet. He put it on his head comfortably and then straddled his bike. 

It roared to life with ease and Cloud smiled in self satisfaction that he had been the one to tune it. The motorcycle and Squall headed out of the pit area to where Tifa was waving for him to wait. Her eyes were plastered on the official time clock as she held out her hand. 

A bright blue flag was in her grasp as she began to mouth out the times. Squall gripped the handles as his heart started pumping rapidly in anticipation. He glanced up at the flag. *Rinoa...she loves that color...* he thought to himself. He smiled to himself and the flag dropped. 

* * *

Irvine laid on his bed, his arms crossed behind his back. Selphie and the others were taking a tour of the Deling Dome, the massive arena where Rinoa would be performing that night. A week had gone by much to fast for him. 

He had spent most of it trying to forget about his 'mission' from General Caraway by diving into activities with the group from Balamb Garden. He had taken them to a famous theme park, then a day trip to Dollet, as well as other places. Rinoa hadn't been able to come with them since she had to practice her routines for her concert. 

Regardless of her absence, there wouldn't be any failure to remind him of how much she loved Squall. 

"I hope that one day General Caraway let's Rinoa see Squall," Selphie told him over dinner the night before. She was smiling intently as she took a sip of drink. Irvine had taken her to an expensive restaurant over looking the city. "You should've seen him when Rinoa left..." 

"Was he that bad?" Irvine had asked her. Selphie nodded, her face fitted with a sad frown. 

"He'd mope around and sometimes we wouldn't even see him. We were kind of worried that he wasn't eating well, too," Selphie replied. Her face suddenly brightened as she looked up at him. "But I guess that since General Caraway let Squall join the race, it's one step closer in the right direction! Right?" 

She had looked so hopeful and happy that he couldn't say no. He merely smiled back at her from across the table and nodded. "Right." he agreed. 

He turned his head and looked over at the closed folder on his desk. Other pieces of paper had been piled on top of it since he had placed it there a week earlier. Slowly, the cowboy sat up and swung his legs over the bed. With narrowed eyes he turned on the desk lamp, illuminating his dark, cave like room. He picked out the folder and opened it once more as he fell down against his chair. 

Squall Leonhart, according to his racing records, had a good chance of winning the G-14. His time trails were excellent and the reflexes and skills he had acquired at the Garden would prepare him for any thing. Irvine closed the folder and tossed it back on his desk. He ran his hand down his face. 

"You've got to be kidding me..." he mumbled. For the life of him, he couldn't see Squall betraying Rinoa. He had seen, first had, how much he cared about her they day her father came to get from her Balamb Garden. Squall wouldn't betray her. He didn't have that in him. 

Yet, Irvine couldn't think of another plausible reason why Caraway would have let Squall ride in the G-14. *Okay,* Irvine thought to himself. *Let's say he did use that as blackmail, the question is - would Squall pose as a threat?* 

No. 

He groaned and slammed his hand on the desk. Even if he did pose a threat, he wasn't sure that he would be able to kill Squall. It wasn't a matter of just shooting him, it was the fact that Rinoa was so attached to him. If he did kill Squall, Rinoa would probably loose her mind. 

She was more in love with Squall than she had ever been with anyone. And if she found that it was HIM... Irvine let out a deep breath. If she found out that it was him, he would loose his best friend. The stakes were too high for his comfort. 

If he didn't kill Squall, then someone else would do it and his records would be released. There was also the threat that he would report Rinoa being a sorceress to his father and get Rinoa put away. If he did kill Squall, he would be ruining the life of his best friend, possibly leading her to insanity. And then there was Selphie and the others. Selphie with her bright smile and her energetic personality. She had worked so hard to see to it that Squall and Rinoa could communicate even after she was taken away. 

She would never forgive him either. He leaned back and the ceiling. *They'd never forgive me...* he thought to himself. His eyes narrowed. *But if they don't find out...* 

* * *

"What!?" Rinoa gasped. Her eyes were wide as she held the phone up to her ear. "But everyone's going to be here!" 

She was in the dressing room back stage, seated on a chair as two make up artists fixed her up. She was wearing a Valentine original to her first concert, a long, sheer white, long sleeve duster that ended with crimped, flared sleeves and hems. She wore that over short, silver tube dress and thigh high matching two inch tall silver boots with white laces. She wore gloves of a similar style. 

"Sorry," Irvine said as he closed Exeter's carrying case. "But I just got called away. I promise I'll come to your next one!" 

"Irvine, how could you back out!?" Rinoa gasped. "Everyone is here and waiting. Selphie's even saving a seat for you!" 

He closed his eyes and winced as he held the bag over his shoulder. He hated to lying to her. "I just sent them a text message," Irvine said. He headed for the door of his condo. "They'll understand." 

"Where are you going!?" Rinoa asked. Part of her was angry that he was ditching her and their friends, but another part of her worried. Irvine wouldn't leave unless it was something important. 

"I'm breaking up, Rin! I have to !" Irvine said. Before she could reply, he flipped his phone closed and hung up on her. He closed the door to his condo and locked it. Tiredly he leaned his head against the cold wood. *Sorry, Rin...* 

Rinoa looked down at her phone and frowned. She shook her head and looked back at the television screen. A smile immediately came to her lips. "Yesterday, Leonhart came in first after two consecutive days of being third. His team hopes that he will keep this up and come in first tonight as well!" 

* * *

"Oh no...!" Selphie gasped as she looked at her phone. "Irvy can't make it!" 

"What?" Quistis asked with a frown. "Does Rinoa know?" Selphie was pressing the buttons on her phone and nodded. 

"Yeah, he said he called her." Selphie replied. They were sitting up in the private VIP booth all to themselves. Rinoa had hooked them up. There were large screen televisions all along the walls and buffet were Zell was practically seated by as he ate the hot dogs. 

Fujin and Raijin were out on the balcony, listening to the screaming fans while pointing out the features on the stage and comparing it now to how they had seen it earlier. Quistis was sitting on a comfortable couch over looking the stage area with Seifer next to her. The blond seemed to be brooding slightly. 

"Seifer, are you okay?" Quistis asked, finally giving into her curiosity and asking him. 

The green eyed blond looked up and turned to Quistis. "Yeah..." he looked at his watch. "Actually...I don't feel so well." 

"Huh?" Selphie asked. Quistis rolled her eyes and shot him an annoyed glare. 

"We TOLD you not to eat all that shrimp at lunch!" Quistis snapped. 

He glared at her. "It's not the shrimp!" he snapped. "Ugh...I'm going to head back to the hotel room. I feel like crap all of a sudden." 

"Rinoa won't be happy to know that her concert made you feel like that." Selphie commented, trying to suppress her giggles. 

"Do you want one of us to come with you, ya know?" Raijin asked as he and a concerned Fujin walked back into the VIP room. Seifer shook his head. 

"No, I'll be fine," he insisted. He grabbed his jacket from the coat rack by the door. "I'll see you all later!" The door closed behind him and the group turned to Zell. 

It took the tattooed blond a while to realize that they were all looking at him. He lifted his head and gave them a questioning look. "What?" 

"I don't know..." Selphie said. "We're kind of expecting you to get up and leave, too..." 

"And leave all of this!?" Zell gasped as if they were crazy. He motioned to the seemingly never ending buffet of hot dogs in front of him. "I think not!" 

* * *

"Seven hours, fifty five minutes, and twenty point three seconds!" Tifa announced as Squall practically skidded to a stop in front of the check point. He almost forgot to put up the kick stand as he got off the bike. 

"Whoa...what's the hurry?" Zidane asked as Squall rushed past him, ignoring the food that had been set out for him. Squall's time had been consistent and strong, keeping him at one of the top three spots at all times. 

His pattern of twelve hours of rest followed by an uneven number of hours driving to the next check point resulted in him arriving at this particular check point in the evening. Squall ignored them as he headed for the television where Tidus was sitting on a chair and flipping through channels of the small thirteen inch television. 

"Move," Squall said. Tidus looked up and frowned. He opened his mouth to protest, but Squall sent him a deadly glare, making him quickly vacate his chair and hand over the remote. Squall took his chair and began to flip through the channels. 

"Squall, don't you want something to eat?" Tifa asked in a concerned voice. He shook his head, ignoring his grumbling stomach as he looked for the correct channel. 

Zidane walked into the area and sighed. "I know what he's looking for," he said. The blond with the tail. He grabbed the remote from Squall and quickly pressed in some buttons before Squall could knock him out for it. "Here we go..." 

Tidus and Tifa looked at the small screen, sly smiles on their faces as Squall's blue eyes pasted themselves on the figure on the stage. "Is this why you got here first?" Tifa said, slightly amused. "You wanted to see Rinoa's televised concert?" 

Squall didn't answer. He merely watched the young woman on the screen dance around provocatively on the stage as she held a microphone in her hands. Her hair was half up and half down with glitter in it as she danced on the stage. The background dancers couldn't compare to her as she energetically pumped the crowds with her singing. 

Sweat glistened on her face as the lights fell around her. Squall smiled slightly. She looked like she was glowing in her white clothes. Tidus elbowed Tifa and pointed to Squall. "He's SMILING..." he whispered in a low voice. Tifa rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to slap Tidus upside the head. "It's WEIRD..." he added. 

Tifa gave in and slapped him upside the head. He let out a moan as she turned around and headed back to where Cloud was so she could check out the other times. "Just leave him alone..." 

As Tidus left, the song came to a close and the crowds clapped energetically. Squall watched as Rinoa disappeared to the stage. He leaned back against the chair as the lights on stage darkened. 

Rinoa quickly got into her spot as dry ice flooded the stage floor. The string orchestra that would accompany her while she was on the piano was in place and she waited. The soft white lights turned on and she was revealed to the public. 

She was sitting before a white grand piano, her hands on the keys as she pulled the microphone to her lips. As the clapping of the crowds subsided, she began to play the beginning notes on the piano. "This is a new song that I wrote for someone very special to me," she said as she blushed. "He can't be with me right now, but I hope he's listening." 

She pushed the microphone away slightly as she started to play. Behind her, the strings prepared their instruments. Squall's eyes went wide as she began to sing. Her words reached his ears clearly as an emotion filled voice ran through the dome. 

His hands balled into fists over his lap as watched her on the screen. The camera would fade in and out of different angles as Rinoa sang. Squall watched with intense interest as he was swept up in the emotion. Then there was a close of her face during the chorus. His heart clenched in his chest as she sang with her eyes closed, yet two clear streams of tears were making their way down her face. 

As the echoes of clapping reached his ear, Squall, more than ever, he wanted to win. 

* * *

Irvine boarded the transportation ship that would take him and drop him off at the designated hit point. All the calculations had been done ahead of time for him. All he had to do was set up his gun, aim, pull the trigger, then be on his merry way back. It was so simple. 

He stowed his gun in a rack below his chair and was seated. He was to the be the only other person other than the pilot on this ship. Caraway couldn't afford anyone else finding out. Squall was, after all, Laguna Loire's son. Any connection between his death and Galbadia would make the existing political tensions worsen. 

Irvine leaned back against his seat as the plane took off. "So this is where you disappeared off to," a deep voice mocked within the dark regions of the room. Irvine's relaxed eyes flew open as he sat up straight. "Let me guess..." Seifer said as Irvine made out his figure in the corner. "Caraway sent you?" 

* * *

Even as Squall laid his eyes on the upcoming sheer rock cliffs he would have to ride through up ahead of him, he found himself unconsciously humming the song that Rinoa had sang the night before. After her concert, Zidane and Tidus teased him endlessly about his 'girlfriend' until Tifa threatened to leave them there when it was time to move to the next check point if they didn't stop. 

However, Squall liked the sound of it. Rinoa was his girlfriend. He smiled slightly as his hands gripped the handles and sped up. The sun was setting and he could see the crack between the rock wall that would lead him into a narrow canyon. The canyon itself was, at some points, so narrow, that only one rider could get through at a time. 

According to what he was aware of, there was only one man ahead of him, but not by far. Sephiroth had proved to be an excellent rider. He was either right before Squall or right after him. However, unlike Cloud had warned, the man hadn't tried anything yet. 

Because of that, Squall only began to suspect him more. His blond haired trainer wouldn't have warned him if he didn't see a threat. Squall could only assume that Sephiroth was going to pull something soon. His heart began to race as he shot through the narrow entry way. 

*Shit...it's darker than I thought...* Squall quickly turned on his head lights and cast an eerie glow against the stone walls. He gripped the handles tightly as he went over the rock lined dirt path. It was ten miles through canyon. By the time he was on the other side, it would be pitch dark. From there, he would be close to the check point. 

His eyes focused on the ground in front of him. He could make out fresh tired tracks and knew that his closest opponent was close. When he glanced down again, he noticed that the tracks had all but vanished. Quick blue eyes darted around for any sign of a spill, but found none. 

His eyes went up and he noticed the grooves against the sheer wall. They were just big enough for a motorcycle to fit through. Squall narrowed his eyes. *He rode the paths up to the top of the canyon!* 

Swearing, Squall sped up. The top of the canyon was far easier than the narrow, winding path through the canyon itself. Not to mention it had better traction and visibility. Top racers would have to watch themselves carefully so has not to run into wall or off a cliff. 

He silently prayed for the best as he cleared his mind. It was just him, the bike, and the road. Squall's narrowed blue eyes caught something from the corner of his eye. Something had fallen from the side of the cliff. A stone? He looked ahead of him, making sure there was nothing to surprise him up ahead, and then looked up. 

His eyes went wide as he saw numerous sized boulders and stones sliding down the canyon walls. He looked back straight ahead of him and pulled a wheelie. He needed to get out of the area as soon as possible. As he shot ahead, crashing could be heard behind him as the boulders tumbled down. 

He looked over his shoulder and mentally swore. He put the bike back on both wheels and sped up. His heart was racing as adrenaline flood him. He looked up to see if there were any more signs of boulders falling and noticed that at the top of the sheer cliffs, right by the edge, a thin cloud of smoke was being trailed against the night sky. 

"Sephiroth..." Squall hissed in disgust. He leaned forward and lower on his bike as behind him, boulders continued to crash. He knew that Sephiroth would pull a stunt soon, but he hadn't expected him to actually try to kill him by crushing him with boulders. 

Had anyone told him, he wouldn't have believed it. He kept his eyes on the path ahead of him. He skidded down one turn, following the complex path way with unnatural grace. As he neared a straight, reasonably wide path, he noticed something blocking his way. The boulders had stopped as soon as he turned the corner. The only thing in his way now was a massive boulder blocking the funnel area about a quarter mile ahead of him. 

Squall had to skid to a stop. Dirt and pebbles kicked up around him as he stopped and looked at the boulder. He turned off his bike and listened to the sounds of another motorcycle ahead of him. He narrowed his eyes and got off. With skill he developed as a SeeD, he climbed up the boulder and looked over it. There was narrow path right past it, just large enough for one rider. 

He took a deep breath and unzipped the top of his suit. With dirty gloves one, he reached into his shirt and pulled out piece of paper. He opened it and in the head light of his bike, he read it. "Good luck..." he whispered. He looked back at the boulder. "Thanks, Rin..." 

He slipped it back in and zipped his suit back up. He rushed back to his bike and got on it. It sounded to life and he turned it around. He sped towards the start of the wide area and skidded to a stop as he turned his bike around. He gripped the handles and made sure his helmet was on tightly. He eyed the surrounding walls and the boulder. 

The back tire kicked up dust and dirt as Squall shot forward. He began to drive it close to the uneven, slight sloped surface of the left wall. He looked down at the odometer. *I never thought I'd be thankful for learning physics...* he thought to himself. He pulled the front of his bike up and was launched up against the wall. 

In a split second move, the bike was on top of the boulder and flew down the other side. It landed with a harsh sound and Squall winced. When Cloud would check it, he would surely kill him. Or at least wait until the G-14 was over to kill him. Squall merely smiled and sped through the canyon. 

Above him, green eyes narrowed. "I have to hand it to you..." A deep voice whispered into the night wind as his black motorcycle continued to speed on it's way. "You're not just a racer..." He leaned forward and picked up speed as he gripped the handles. Strapped to his back, a glimmering swore peeked from it's sheath. 

* * *

They had glared at each other the whole way there. Irvine's usually cool and collected eyes were locked on to Seifer's usually smart ass, laughing ones. Irvine had told him what had to be done and Seifer merely laughed at his naivete. 

"Are you doing this for you or are you doing this for Rin?" Seifer had asked coolly. He had sneaked in with such ease, it thought it was funny. 

"Both." Irvine had stated. Seifer didn't say anything else. Even as they were dropped off in the designated area, which was a hill top that over looked the opening of the canyon. Squall would have to come through exactly that area reach the check point. 

Seifer sat down next to where Irvine was setting up Exeter. "What do you think they'll say when they find out?" 

Irvine gritted his teeth as he adjusted the scope. "Find out what?" he asked, annoyed with Seifer's looming presence. 

"Find out that you killed Squall." Seifer stated coolly. 

"They won't find out." 

"So you'll just have another thing hanging over your head?" Seifer asked. "Another thing that Caraway can use to manipulate you. Maybe even against Rinoa." 

"Will you shut up, Seifer!?" Irvine snapped. "Do you think I WANT to do this!?" 

"I don't see you not exactly 'not wanting' to." Seifer replied. 

"Rinoa is like a sister to me!" Irvine said sharply. "If Squall's willing to use her secret to black mail his way into the G-14, who knows what he's capable of doing!" 

"Fine, if you really believe that he'll turn in Rin, go for it. I won't stop you." Seifer told him. 

Irvine took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. In the distance, they could hear the sound of motorcycles approaching. Irvine took his place with Exeter and kept his aim on the crack in the stone cliffs. The motorcycle sound was getting louder and louder. Irvine's hands were getting damp. He didn't remember being this nervous. 

Seifer crossed his arms and waited. His green eyes went down to the valley floor. The sounds grew louder until two motorcycles, almost side by side, shot out of the canyon like a bullet. Irvine froze. He looked through his eye piece and zoned in on Squall. 

_"I really like him..."_

Her voice echoed in his ear and Irvine took a deep breath. His finger was placed on the trigger. Sweat collected as his brow. 

_"Thank you, Irvine. For being a good friend."_

His heart was beating rapidly. Behind him, Seifer narrowed his eyes looked down at the racers. "What the hell...?" he murmured. Seifer leaned over the edge of their area, a shocked look on his face. Irvine took another breath. 

Rinoa's face, bright, happy, and elated all because of one blue eyed motorcyclist. *She's like my sister...* his mind told him as Squall was in his line of vision once more. *I have to protect her...* He held his breath. *I'm sorry...* 

Irvine pulled the trigger. 


	13. Omitted Information

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Thirteen: Omitted Information_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** (MORE evil laughter) Well, I'm having fun. Don't worry, no more 'will Irvine kill Squall' cliff hangers. There's some more relaxed moments in here where I'm just filling space with random action. The girls have a sleep over featuring karaoke. All tension isn't always good, right?

All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters.

* * *

Squall caught the dust from the top of the canyon falling over him and he narrowed his eyes. I've caught up... he thought to himself. His grip tightened once more as he leaned forward. His mind was empty and all his movements were controlled by pure instinct. 

From what he had read from the map, there was one more mile to go. He checked his odometer quickly and smirked. Make that less than one mile.

There would be one final corridor with a reasonably wide area before the narrow exit. He kept his blue eyes focused ahead . He began to notice the path widen around him. He stayed in the center to avoid the jutting rocks and fallen stones that lined the sides of the dirt and dust filled canyon.

Suddenly, from his left side, he heard a loud roar. He glanced over his shoulder and mentally swore. Another rider was riding down a narrow, downward sloping path, against the side of the canyon wall. His black bike and black attire made his pure white hair flash like lightning in the night behind him.

Squall knew who it was. He turned back to the path ahead of him. He couldn't get distracted.

Behind him, Sephiroth eyed the young rider with predatory eyes as he steered his bike back from the top of the canyon to the bottom. He watched as Squall looked back and smirked. He wished he could've seen Squall's reaction as he seemed to appear out of thin air.

His bike landed with a thud on the pathway. He was few mere feet from Squall's back tire. What do you say to a game of cat and mouse?

Squall could almost feel Sephiroth breathing down his back as he rode. He refused to look back and look at his opponent, whom he knew was catching up. From the corner of his eye, he could see another black tire caked with dirt inching closer to him. He centered his thoughts and sight back on the race.

He had to ignore the pressure mounting behind him. Up ahead of him, the path was narrowing quickly. He swore. He knew he needed to maintain the lead in order to come out of the canyon first. As soon as they were back on the plateau, he could really get ahead. But in the cramped area filled with sharp turns and rocks jutting out at every angle, he couldn't afford to try any techniques.

Sephiroth looked to his right. He had caught up with the young SeeD. Squall was gripping the handles of his bike as he leaned forward. Through the tinted helmet, he could barely make out the look of concentration on Squall's face as he sped up and got about a foot ahead of him.

The white haired man laughed to himself. It was such a futile effort. He knew this canyon like the back of his hand where as Squall was a novice in the area. Regardless, he would let Squall take the lead.

The narrow passage came up and Squall sped up. Suddenly, it seemed that Sephiroth was far behind him and Squall narrowed his eyes. The man wouldn't have given up that easily. He frowned and kept his guard up. As he followed the path, he could see the light from Sephiroth's head light reflect against his bike with each slight turn.

Squall saw a flash of the night sky in front of him. The opening was fast approaching. Behind him, the sound of another motorcycle was growing louder. Within moments, Sephiroth was at his heels once more. Squall narrowed his eyes as his bike let out a loud growl and shot him froward.

It seemed to any observer that Squall and Sephiroth had been sling shot out of a sheer face of rock wall. Two dark figures riding metal horses sped across the plain, leaving nothing more than a cloud of dust behind them. Squall couldn't see what was behind him. He didn't care.

His eyes were focused froward as he gripped his bike. He didn't notice Sephiroth move one hand towards his back. He didn't see the sparkling blade in the moonlight as the white haired man caught up with him and lifted the katana over Squall's back tire.

* * *

Seifer narrowed his eyes looked down at the racers. "What the hell...?" he murmured. Seifer leaned over the edge of their area, a shocked look on his face. Irvine took another breath. 

"I'm sorry," Irvine said out loud with his thought. Seifer was standing up, looking over the edge. I'm sorry, General. But I'm going to protect Rin the best way I can. He pulled the trigger.

Seifer jumped at the sound of the gun, having not been paying attention to Irvine. However, his green eyes never once left the scene in the valley below. The sword seemed to be knocked out of Sephiroth's hand by an unseen force before it came down over Squall's back tire, which would've ruined Squall's bike and possibly caused him to kill himself if he got into an accident that their speed.

Sephiroth's sword fell behind him as his bike wavered a bit. Squall took this chance to speed up. He got on his back tire and practically flew ahead of Sephiroth. Seifer fell back on to the patch of ground where he had been sitting. "Shit..." He gasped out. "Did you see that?"

Seifer looked over at Irvine. The cowboy had his face in his arms, as if he was completely wiped out. He was leaning against the side of a rock that was jutting out and Exeter hadn't been taken down. "Dammit..." Irvine swore. He shook his head and looked up at Seifer. "I was this close to shooting him..."

"What?" Seifer snorted with disgust. "You're going to try to say that you missed him by accident?"

Irvine scoffed. "No one is going to be believe that Irvine Kinneas MISSED. Irvine Kinneas NEVER misses."

"So..." Seifer said as he lifted his chin towards Irvine. "Why didn't you shoot him?"

"I can't do it," Irvine replied simply. He let out a slightly bitter laugh as he removed his hand and ran his hand through is suddenly damp red-brown hair. "I can't shoot him. I can't do that to Rin. To Selphie."

"I thought so."

"If you're so sure that I wouldn't go through with it, then why'd you come?" Irvine asked suspiciously.

"I was about ninety-nine percent sure," Seifer replied coolly. "But incase you would have gone through with that one percent, I would've done you a favor and killed you."

Irvine grinned. "I didn't know you cared about Squall so much."

"Shut the fuck up, Kinneas," Seifer snapped, anger flashing in his eyes. "I just don't want to see Rinoa or any of the girls cry. Especially not Quisty."

Irvine merely shook his head and looked back at the valley. The racers were almost out of sight and disappearing into the darkness. Sephiroth was a good few feet behind Squall. "I can't go back." Irvine mumbled.

Seifer rolled his eyes. "What's with the melodramatic crap?" he grumbled. "Why can't you go back? You didn't do anything wrong."

"But I was about to," Irvine said. He shrugged and ran his hand down his face. "How can I face Rinoa and the others after I was so close to killing Squall?"

"You're such an idiot, Kinneas," Seifer grumbled. He stood up and wiped his pants and jacket. "You don't get it, do you? If you hadn't taken up the mission, someone else would've. That someone else sure as hell would've pulled it off."

"But I could've killed him!" Irvine retorted as he looked up at the blond. "I was GOING to!"

"You can try to say that all you want," Seifer said. "You can even say that you had your eye piece on him and everything."

"I did!"

"But you didn't shoot him," Seifer told him. "Stop wallowing in your pity," he said proudly. "You saved Puberty Boy's life."

"What?" Irvine asked, his eyes narrowed. He looked at Seifer like the man had lost his mind.

"You really are stupid aren't you?" Seifer frowned. "That other guy was going to take Squall out of the damn race! You saw him! If you didn't shoot his sword when you had the chance, Puberty Boy would be lying, maybe dead, next to a pile of burning motorcycle. Do you GET it?"

"I doubt they'll see it that way." Irvine said as he stood up and glared at Seifer.

Seifer narrowed his green eyes seriously "That's the only way they're going to see it."

Irvine's fists clenched at his sides. "You weren't the one who almost killed him." he hissed in a low voice.

Seifer kept a cold glare on Irvine. "Damn right I wasn't," Seifer replied. "Now get your gun. Let's go."

"They're going to pick us up here." Irvine said as he returned to his gun and began to take it apart and put it back in it's case.

"We're not staying for them to pick us up." Seifer replied. Irvine narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Seifer.

"What are you talking about?" he murmured.

"We're going to the camp," Seifer said as he began to climb down the hill. "If Caraway was telling the truth and Puberty Boy did black mail him into letting him race, I want to know exactly how it went down."

"You're going to talk to Squall?"

"No, I'm going to talk to the back-in-time fairy," Seifer said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "We're going to get this thing straightened out."

* * *

Rinoa looked over some motorcycle magazines as she laid on her bed. "Ohhh...what about this one?" She looked up at Selphie pushed a magazine under her face. "That's totally you!" 

"Let me see," Quistis said. Rinoa moved the magazine over to where Quistis was seated on a cushion on the floor by the foot of her bed. Quistis was having her blond hair braided by Fujin, who she had discovered, was extremely good with hair. "No it's not. It's too big."

"Suzuki," Fujin said as she straightened out Quistis' hair with her fingers. "Smaller."

"Yeah, a Suzuki would fit her better." Quistis agreed. Rinoa looked over the magazine once more. Quistis was wearing a simple pink and white striped pajama set. Fujin was wearing a big blue over sized T-shirt and black shorts. Rinoa was wearing gray sweat pants and a baby blue tank top.

"It would be fun to go across the continent with Squall on another bike..." Rinoa sighed. "But it would be better to...you know...do it on just one." The girls all exchanged knowing looks.

Selphie sighed and rolled over on her bed. "Maybe I should get one then...?" she said. She was wearing matching sun flower tank top and shorts and her hair had been split into two little pig tails.

"So you can ride one with Irvine?" Rinoa giggled. Selphie blushed and shook her head.

"Nah! You know he won't take of his hat!" she laughed.

"Top helmet." Fujin snickered with a smirk she had picked up from hanging out with Seifer too long. All the girls imagined Irvine on a motorcycle wearing a helmet and his signature cowboy hat taped on to it. They burst into laughter.

"What is WITH his hat, anyway?" Quistis asked. "Rinoa, he's your childhood friend, why does he always wear a hat? Did he have some sort of cowboy fixation or something?"

Rinoa chuckled and shook her head. "Actually..." she looked at them and hesitated. "I'm not supposed to tell."

"Oh come on, Rin!" Selphie said. "This is a slumber party! You're supposed to share secrets."

"Not secrets." Fujin sighed.

"Exactly," Rinoa nodded. "If I tell secrets, they won't be secrets any more."

"Okay, fine," Selphie sighed. "It's not a secret, it's 'gossip'. So share gossip!"

Rinoa thought for a while and nodded. "Okay, I'll work with that," she said. She sat up and motioned for the girls to lean forward. "Actually, you know how people wear hats sometimes because of a bad hair day?"

"Yeah..." Selphie said.

Quistis frowned. "Don't tell me he wears a hat every day because of that!"

"No, no," Rinoa sighed. "When we were little, his mom shaved his head. So that thick red-brown hair that Selphie loves so much was gone," Selphie grinned lopsidedly. "Anyway, Irvine has a LUMPY head. He got teased a lot by it when he was kid, so he grew it out and started wearing hats."

Fujin looked confused. "Why cowboy?"

Rinoa rolled her eyes. "You'll never believe this..." she sighed. "He says it helps with the 'ladies'."

"Oh, Hyne..." Quistis sighed.

"So Irvine..." Fujin agreed. "Done!" She removed her hands from Quistis' hair and the blond picked up the hand held mirror at her side.

"Nice, Fujin...you'd make a killing doing people's hair at the next graduation ball." Quistis said. Fujin seemed to think about it for a while and nodded with a satisfied smirk.

"Good idea."

"Okay, Fujin! Now my hair!" Rinoa said. She and Quistis traded places. As Rinoa settled on to the cushion, Selphie's phone rang.

Selphie reached over the side of the bed and picked it up. She tossed it to Rinoa. "It's your man!"

"Selphie, shh!" Rinoa said, blushing as she flipped the phone open. "My father might be home!"

Selphie smiled sheepishly. "Sorry!" As Rinoa lifted the phone to her ear, she began to wonder why General Caraway had allowed them to stay over if he was so strict. He had practically torn Rinoa from Squall's arms. Then again, perhaps the man was just an over protective father who didn't want men near his daughter.

"Hello?" Rinoa asked. She immediately blushed and the girls sat back and watched. Rinoa turned her back to them, embarrassed.

"Rin?" Squall said, surprised. A smile crossed his face. "How are you? I missed you."

Rinoa was on cloud nine. "I'm okay...I missed you, too..." she added. Behind her Selphie let out a squeal and Quistis told her to be quiet. "How about you?"

"I just reached the camp at Winhill," Squall said. He was standing in the closed of space behind a screen in their tent at the camp. "We're going to start heading back tomorrow."

"It's a big loop around the continent, right?" Rinoa asked. She turned back to the girls. "Map!" she whispered in a low voice. Selphie snatched up the motorcycle magazine with the map of the G-14 on it and handed it to Rinoa.

Squall sat on his cot as he heard Cloud yell for Zidane to fetch him some tools because something was damaged. "Yeah...hey, I saw your performance last night."

"Really?" Rinoa gasped. She had barely opened the magazine to the map to the race when she dropped it. "But...um...what about your race?"

Squall smiled to himself. "I made it back just in time to see it," he said. He felt his own cheeks get a little warm. "I heard your new song..."

Rinoa's mouth dropped. "You...you did?"

"Yeah..." Squall trailed off. "I want to be with you, too." Rinoa's heart was beating rapidly in her chest.

"Squall..." she whispered softly. She swallowed and tried not to cry. Suddenly hearing his voice made her miss him so much more.

"I'll be back in a few days," he told her intently. He had a foreign, soft look on his face as he looked down at his hands. Peeking behind the screen were Tidus, Tifa, and Zidane. "I'll see you there."

"I love you!" Rinoa announced loudly. The girls behind her jumped.

"Did she just tell our commander that she loves him?" Quistis asked. She knew she did, but to announce it so loudly like that was still a bit strange to hear.

Rinoa put the volume in Selphie's phone and held it out. There was a pause. "I love you, too, Rin." a warm voice said from the phone. Quistis and Selphie allowed their mouths' to drop as Fujin's eye went wide. The voice was definitely Squall's, yet the words seemed so...weird coming from him.

Rinoa practically swooned against the bed as she brought the phone up to her ear. "The girls say hi, by the way." Rinoa said as she saw their shocked looks.

"The girls...?" Squall said. "You're with everyone right now?"

"You called us in the middle of a sleep over," Rinoa said. Squall smiled. Rinoa was just a normal teenager. "I better let you go get some rest," she sighed. "Talk to you soon?"

"Definitely," Squall said. He heard Rinoa kiss him good bye on the phone before she hung up. Squall put his phone down and stared at it. He heard shifting and looked up. His eyes narrowed and a cold look replaced his warm one. "What are you three doing?" he growled.

"Run!" Tidus shouted. The trio who had been watching him scattered. Squall frowned.

He stood up and slipped his phone into a pair of jeans that had been provided for him to rest in. He was wearing a plain white shirt and some boots. When he came from around the screen, Tifa was pretending to go over some papers while Zidane and Tidus pretended to be watching television. Squall rolled his eyes and went over to his seat to eat his meal.

"Squall," Tifa said as she walked over to him with a clip board. "You're about twenty three seconds ahead of the guy right behind you."

Squall nodded and sliced his piece of chicken. "What did you do to your bike?" a voice said behind him. Squall paused and winced. Cloud didn't sound his usual happy self. "Why is the suspension all screwed up?"

Should I tell him that I rode over a border and landed on the ground from ten feet? Squall asked himself. No, He took a deep breath. "The canyon wasn't as even as I thought it would be."

He continued to eat and Cloud gave him a look of disbelief, but nodded his head and returned back to the bike he was tuning. "It looks like you jumped off a building with it..." the blond mumbled.

Squall paused and put his fork down. He turned to Cloud. "Something...happened in the canyon."

"What happened?" Cloud asked as he knelt down by the bike. Squall took a deep breath.

"I think Sephiroth tired to kill me."

"What?" Cloud shot up immediately, hitting his head on the handles as he did so. "AH! OWW!"

"Cloud!" Tifa gasped. "Honey, watch out!" She rushed by him and helped him up. She examined the top of his head. "Really, Cloud...are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Cloud said, trying to ignore the pain as he looked over at Squall. "What do you mean you THINK he tried to kill you?"

"All right, I'm quite positive that he tried to kill me," Squall countered. "When we were in the canyon."

"How?" Cloud asked with narrowed eyes.

"I was going through this narrow area when all of a sudden rocks started falling...there was an avalanche from the top of the canyon," Squall said. He looked as if he were concentrating. "At first, I didn't think anything of it, but I looked up and saw a cloud of dust at the top and I heard a motorcycle up there."

Cloud frowned. His blue eyes were narrowed as he turned to glare down the camp site where Sephiroth's team was pitched. "Bastard...I KNEW he'd try something like this again!"

"Again?" Squall asked. "He did something when you raced?"

Tifa put her hands on Cloud's shoulders and tried to calm him down. "It was right after they shot out of the canyon," Tifa told him as Cloud shook with fury. Squall turned to look at her. "Sephiroth is an excellent swordsman as well as a racer. He had a sword and was going to attack Cloud's rear tire. It would've been a devastating accident had he succeeded."

Squall narrowed his eyes and looked concerned. "How did you get out of it?"

"He wasn't the only one with a sword on him at the time," Cloud said. "I managed to retaliate and get far enough ahead of him. But that sort of thing, unfortunately, happens a lot in the G-14."

Squall understood. He'd read all about it and had heard some first hand stories about how people were sometimes killed in 'accidents' that weren't really accidents. But since no one could prove it, since no one watched the racers while they actually raced, nothing could be done. It was basically fend for yourself. Squall shook his head. "I don't think-"

"It's kind of stupid to pull the same stunt again," a deep voice said from the entrance of the tent. Squall turned around, his eyes wide at the visitors who literally were at his doorstep. Seifer and Irvine stood there, a few feet from each other. Seifer's green eyes landed directly on Squall. "Puberty Boy...we need to talk."

* * *

"No! Pick THAT one!" Selphie shouted as she pointed to the binder with the laminated sheets. 

"I already sang that one," Quistis said as she held the remote. Her finger went down the list. "This one."

The other girls groaned. "BORING!" Fujin announced as she looked through the list past Quistis' shoulder.

"What? No!" Quistis gasped. "I want to sing this one!"

"Fine..." Rinoa and Selphie pouted as they crossed there arms.

"But don't expect us to cheer or anything." Rinoa said as she wrinkled her nose. Quistis finally sighed.

"FINE," she said exasperated. "What do YOU think I should sing?"

"203!" Selphie shouted. She snatched the remote from Quistis and before the blond could protest, Rinoa handed her the microphone and pushed her up.

"Let me introduce you!" Rinoa said. She grabbed the second microphone and lifted it up to her mouth as the disc loaded. "Ahem..." she said. Selphie snickered and Fujin shook her head. "This is Quistis Trepe singing 'My Heart Will Go One', dedicated to..." She held the microphone out.

"SEIFER!" Selphie and Fujin shouted.

Quistis' face flooded with color as her arms dropped at her sides. "NO!" she shrieked. "That's it! I'm not singing karaoke any more!"

"Oh, come on, Quisty! It's just a joke!" Selphie said as she pouted. Quistis frowned.

"Okay, okay..." Rinoa said. "You can sing the song you want..." Quistis smiled slightly as Rinoa pressed in the numbers. "Happy now?"

"I won't be happy until I get you back for that Seifer crack."

"Oh! It's starting!" Selphie said. She clapped her hands and watched as the television in Rinoa's room showed a bunch of scenery shots before going on to a woman wandering around a park and occasionally feeding ducks.

Quistis turned to face the screen so she could see the words. "You know, I never did get why karaoke laser discs show people in parks..." Rinoa whispered.

"Random." Fujin agreed.

The music stared and Quistis opened her mouth. "I know that you're hiding things, using gentle words to shelter me..."

"WHOOO!" Selphie shouted. Quistis rolled her eyes.

"Your words were like a dream..."

"Yeah! Quistis, you sexy beast!" Rinoa laughed. Quistis whirled around, ignoring the white boardered words on the screen that were filled with red as she sang.

"Do you want me to do this or not?" she snapped. "Because I'll stop!"

The girls giggled and shook their head no. "Sorry..."

Quistis sighed and tried to find her rhythm again. "What if I cried my eyes out and begged you not to part..."

"But now I'm not afraid to say what's in my heart!" a voice sang behind her. She turned around once more and saw Rinoa holding a microphone.

"'Cuz a thousand words call out through the ages...!" Rinoa, Selphie, and Fujin all grabbed the remaining microphones as began to belt out the lyrics, thereby annoying Quistis.

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at them unimpressed as they sang the chorus once more. To make things worse, they were purposely out of tune. Quistis couldn't stand it any longer and joined them. "...They'll hold you forever!"

Laughing, they fell to the ground in a puddle of giggling hysterics. "Rinoa!" a voice shouted from the door. There was a knock. "Rinoa, princess, please keep it down!"

Rinoa bit her lower lip and held her finger up to her lips. "Sorry, father!" she shouted. The girls tried to suppress their giggling.

Quistis sighed and leaned back against the bed. "Your father..." Quistis said. "He doesn't seem as stern as I thought he would be."

"He's just really over protective," Rinoa said weakly. "Sometimes to the point where it's crazy."

"Like at the Garden?" Selphie asked. Rinoa nodded slightly.

"Like at the Garden," she agreed. She looked down at her lap as she crossed her legs in front of her. "Although...Squall's the only person he's ever been like that to. He was never like that to Seifer."

"Seifer?" Selphie asked. She raised an eyebrow and Rinoa knew she said too much. "Rinoa... were you and Seifer...?" Rinoa looked away and Selphie turned to her second source, Fujin. "Fujin?"

Fujin looked around nervously, but finally nodded. "Affirmative..."

Quistis, who had been drinking from a juice bottle, nearly choked and looked at Rinoa in shock. "You're Seifer's ex-girlfriend?"

Rinoa looked up at Quistis. "Quistis, it was just one summer a long, LONG time ago! I swear! It went nothing beyond a kiss!"

"YOU KISSED HIM?" Quistis asked. Rinoa cowered against the bed as Quistis loomed over her. I haven't even gotten that far!

"I thought you said you didn't like Seifer in THAT WAY," Selphie said with a smug grin. Quistis immediately seemed to deflate as she sat back down. "You said that you wouldn't like him that way in a thousand years and that he wasn't boyfriend material."

All eyes were now on the tall blonde. Quistis swallowed and Rinoa smiled. "He likes you, too," Rinoa said. "A lot."

"I KNOW he likes me...a lot," Quistis sighed. She fell back against the bean bag behind her. "I'm sorry about that, Rinoa... There's nothing going on between Seifer and myself."

"Quistis, just admit it," Rinoa sighed. "You're jealous. But to put your mind at ease, Seifer is like a brother to me. Just like Irvine. If you marry him, you'll be like my sister."

Quistis sat up and glared at Rinoa. "I am NOT marrying Seifer!"

"Denial." Fujin piped.

Selphie and Rinoa nodded and Quistis turned red. "Will you stop it!" she exclaimed. "I don't like Seifer!"

The girls just stared at him. "Love him?" Fujin suggested.

"Yeah, that's it." Rinoa agreed. Quistis tugged at her braid, frustrated.

Selphie started laughing. Quistis had always been the most mature of them. She always acted older than everyone else. It seemed that when she was cornered in this sort of situation, she would act like a typical teenage girl. She'd blush, deny her crush, and then pelt someone with a pillow.

And pelt Selphie with a pillow she did. Within a few seconds, the girls were throwing pillows at each other and yelling. There was a another knock on the door and the girls froze.

"Rin, princess, please keep it down!"

Before Rinoa could answer, Selphie and Quistis shouted. "Sorry, Mr. Caraway!" Rinoa burst into laughter. No one had ever called her father THAT.

Outside the door, General Caraway raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. He'd never been called 'Mr. Caraway' before. It was very casual and sounded as if the girls saw him not as the General of the Galbadian army, but as Rinoa's father. He shook his head. "Good night, girls!"

Rinoa smiled softly at the sound of her father's voice. As the girls chorused goodnight, Rinoa whispered, "Goodnight...dad."

* * *

Squall closed the door to the trainer behind the tent. Irvine sat down on one of the seats by the window and Seifer stood by the kitchen. Squall narrowed his eyes. "What's going on?" 

Irvine hadn't been able to look at Squall since they arrived. Seifer took a deep breath and locked eyes with Squall. "Did you threaten to turn in Rinoa to your father if Caraway didn't let you race?"

Squall's heart stopped in his chest. For the life of him, he couldn't feel his body suddenly. His mouth went dry and his breathing grew deeper. Seifer and Irvine were both looking at him now, waiting for the answer. His hands unclenched from his sides. "Yes."

Disappointment washed through Irvine's face. Seifer closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. Squall didn't even see Seifer's fist flying towards his face. By the time he realized what was happening, Seifer had already hit him in the jaw. Squall fell back against the door of the trailer as pain shot through is face.

Breathing deeply he lifted his hand to his lip and found that it was bleeding. He looked up with furious eyes as Seifer stood there and cracked his knuckles. "That's for Rinoa." Seifer spat out. Irvine nodded

"Why?" Irvine asked. "I thought you loved her."

"I do love her," Squall said. "Do you think I would seriously turn her in?"

"He said you had your father on the phone!" Irvine gasped out, frustrated.

Squall narrowed his eyes. "He told you..." Squall murmured. His hand balled into a fist. "Caraway told you!"

"Were you going to turn her in?" Irvine asked. "After everything?"

"Of course not!" Squall retorted proudly. "I was on the phone with my father, but I wasn't going to turn her in! Even if I did, the moment Laguna would meet Rinoa, he'd probably refuse to put her away!"

"What if Caraway had said no?" Seifer snapped.

"He did say no," Squall said. He wiped the corner of his lip with part of his shirt sleeve. "So I called Laguna. Caraway made his own assumptions from there."

Irvine hit the wall next to Squall's head and glared at him. "Do you know I was sent here to kill you?" he asked bitterly. An unreadable look flashed through Squall's eyes. "Because Caraway thought that you were a threat to Rinoa. That you might turn around and black mail him again?"

"Kill me...?" Squall asked. He looked over at Seifer. The blonde's head was turned away from him.

"You know how much crap I had to go through because I didn't know if I should kill you or not?" Irvine said. He turned away from Squall as well and paced in front of him.

Squall stared at Irvine. "Why didn't you kill me?" Squall said quietly. "I know you're angry about black mailing Caraway, so why didn't you?"

"Why do you think?" Irvine said, throwing his arms in the air. He stopped his pacing and looked at Squall. "Rinoa is like my sister. Do you think I want to see her cry? And Selphie...how could I face her again?"

"I'm sorry, Irvine-"

"Don't say you're sorry!" Irvine exclaimed. "We're even, all right!"

"Even?" Squall asked. "For what?"

"You mean you didn't even notice?" Seifer's annoyed voice sounded. Squall turned to look at him. "Mr. Commander of SeeDs didn't notice that the guy you were racing against was about to pull the same stunt on you that he tried to pull on the short blond guy outside!"

Squall's eyes went large. So that's why he fell behind me...! Squall's mind screamed.

"I shot his sword," Irvine explained. "I knocked it out of his hand and then he had problems getting hold of his bike again."

Squall merely nodded. "We're not even," Squall stated. "You saved my life twice, Irvine."

"I could've killed you-"

"And you didn't." Squall stated.

Irvine took a deep breath and looked at Seifer. "You want to be even?" he asked Squall. "Tell us what you said to Caraway that night. Everything. Don't change the words. Don't paraphrase. Don't omit things or add new ones. Just tell us what the hell you told him."

Squall was cornered. He narrowed his eyes. "Did Caraway tell you only that I said I'd turn in Rinoa if he didn't let me race?" Irvine nodded. Squall let out a breath. "We also made a deal. This was right before you called me that night."

Irvine nodded. "Go on."

"I told him that if I won first place, he had to allow Rinoa to return to the Garden, if she wanted, and let her be with anyone one she wanted." Squall told them.

Seifer looked somewhat confused. "And if you lost?" Irvine asked.

"Then I would leave, never see or speak to Rinoa again, and never speak of her secret to anyone," Squall said. "Even if I came in second by a nanosecond, I'd still loose."

Seifer snorted and shook his head. "Do you really think that he'd keep his side of the bargain? The man sent Irvine to kill you."

Squall looked at Seifer. "If he didn't intend on keeping his side of the bargain, WOULD he even bother sending Irvine to kill me?" The trio inside the trailer went silent.

Irvine ran his hand down his face. "If you loose, you'll never see Rinoa again."

Squall looked at Irvine. A slight smile touched the corners of his lips. "I said that if I lost, I would leave Rinoa alone..."

Irvine slowly grinned. "But if she pursued you...that's completely legal," Squall nodded. "You dawg."

"I don't want Rinoa to know about this," Squall said. "If I lost and she knew...Hyne, she'd be devastated..."

"But if you won..." Irvine trailed of. "Squall, I saw your statistics! They're the best out there. You're going to win!"

"You saw what happened out there," Seifer said. "Squall's on that one guy's hit list."

"I just have to be more careful, that's all," Squall told them. He looked at the two men. "Don't tell Rinoa about this."

"Don't worry about it," Irvine said. "But I am going to talk to General Caraway."

"I don't understand why he hates me so much," Squall mumbled. "Especially enough to send someone to kill me."

"It's not that he hates you," Irvine said as he opened the door. "He just loves his daughter."

* * *

Rinoa sat at the dinner table in silence. Her father sat across from her on the long dinner table. Selphie, Quistis, and Fujin had returned to their hotel. Rinoa felt disappointment brewing in her stomach. Without Selphie there, she couldn't talk to Squall.

The night before last had been one of the best times in her life. When she was little, she used to have sleep overs with her friends from school. Even a few times with Irvine present. They used to do his hair. Of course, as she got older, she slowly lost those friends.

People changed. Peoples' parents didn't want them to hang around with her any more. Then she was gone from school to model and perform. For a while, Fujin had been the only other girl there. And she wasn't exactly talkative. But when Quistis and especially Selphie were around, it was like a small party.

"Did you have a good time with your friends?" Caraway asked from across the table.

"Yes, father, I did."

"Good," Caraway nodded. He glanced up at his daughter, who was slowly eating her food. "You look more and more like your mother everyday."

Rinoa looked up and smiled slightly. "Thank you, father. That's quite a compliment."

"You don't have to keep calling me father," Caraway told her. "You used to call me 'dad' or 'daddy'. What happened?"

Rinoa grew silent and looked back at her food. "Mom died." she whispered quietly. General Caraway slowly stopped what he was doing.

He looked back up at Rinoa. Just as he opened his mouth, the doors to the dining room where thrown open. Both the father and his daughter jumped as Irvine stormed in with Seifer behind him. Caraway stood up and Irvine approached him.

"We need to talk." Irvine stated.

Caraway narrowed his eyes. "About what?"

"You know what," Irvine said. He looked over at Rinoa. "Hey, Rin. Stay here." Caraway tossed his napkin down on the table and walked towards the door where the two young men were standing.

"Rinoa, you stay here and finish your dinner." Caraway told her sternly. He looked at the two males and allowed his eyes to settle on Seifer, as if wondering why he was there as well.

"But, where-"

"Just stay put, Rinoa." Seifer snapped. Rinoa remained seated as she watched her father lead Irvine and Seifer out of the dining room.

She narrowed her eyes, knowing that he was taking them to his private study. She looked down at her half finished food on her plate. Narrowing her eyes, she threw down her napkin and stood up. She quickly walked down the hall, trying to be as quiet as she could.

She peeked around the corner and noticed that her father's study was open just a bit. The light was peeking from the crack in the door and she could see shadows moving around inside. She looked behind her, making sure that none of the maids could see her, then scurried down the hall way.

Rinoa pressed herself up against the side of the wall, right by the door way, and listened.

Inside the room, Caraway was standing by his desk as Irvine approached him. Seifer stood to one corner, his arms crossed. "Why didn't you tell me what else he said?" Irvine asked.

"What do you mean what else he said?" Caraway snapped. "Did you kill him or not?"

"No, of course I didn't!" Irvine replied. "And we went to see him and found out that you omitted something!"

Caraway whirled around and glared at them. "What do you mean you didn't kill him? You had an order and you accepted!"

"I said I understood what you were trying to do! I never said that I would do it!" Irvine retorted.

"Don't you care about Rinoa at all?" Caraway shouted angrily. "Don't you care about her safety? Do you want to see her locked away-"

"Will you cut the crap?" Seifer yelled from where he was standing. "You damn well we care about Rinoa! That's why we kept the secret for so long! You can go ahead and wave our records in our face all you want, but that's not why we're not telling anyone."

"You think that killing him is going to solve everything?" Irvine asked as bitterness filled his usually cool voice. "Do you know what will happen if she found out that he was killed? She'd be devastated!"

"If she stays attached to him, it'll only get worse!" Caraway replied.

"So you think that killing him when she's obiviously so in love with him is the best choice?" Seifer asked. "You don't even know what's going to happen if he does break it off with her!"

"But what kind of man would threaten to put the woman you say he loves in danger just to race?"

Rinoa's eyes went wide. She covered her mouth to keep her gasp down. Squall...? Why...?

"You also forgot to mention that bet," Irvine said. Rinoa closed her eyes. "If Squall wins, you have to let Rinoa go back to Garden if she wants and allow her to be with anyone she wants!"

"That's why you sent Irvine to kill him," Seifer spat out, disgusted. "You saw his statistics and KNEW that he'd win and that Rinoa would run to HIM!"

"Of course I know that!" Caraway shouted. "Do you think I want my daughter with him? His father is-"

"Laguna Loire, we know," Seifer sighed. "So what? Do you think Squall cares?"

"He could be the death of her!" Caraway gasped.

"No!" a voice shouted from outside. They turned to watch the heavy door open and Rinoa step inside. Tears were in her eyes as she looked past Irvine and Seifer and directly at her father. "You're going to be the death of me! How could you?" she screamed. "How could you send Irvine to kill Squall?"

Caraway stared at his daughter in shock. "He..." he gasped out. "He said he would turn you in..." he explained as his face flooded of color.

Rinoa shook her head. "He'd never hurt me..." Rinoa sobbed out. "You don't understand..." she gasped out as streams of warm liquid fell down her pale cheeks. "I love him..."

"He'll hurt you," Caraway assured her sternly. "He'll only break your heart-"

"Then LET him!" Rinoa shouted. "I'd rather HE break my heart than you never letting him near it at all!"

The brunette whirled around and ran out of the room. "Rinoa!" Caraway shouted desperately.

"I'm going after her." Seifer said. He turned and ran after Rinoa. Irvine looked back at General Caraway.

"I don't care what you do with my records," Irvine said. "You can tell the whole world, but I won't hurt Rinoa. We, me, Seifer, and the others...we're going to protect Rinoa the way we know how. Even if it's from her own father."


	14. Daddy's Little Girl

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Fourteen: Daddy's Little Girl_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** Have I told you how much I love all my reviewers? You guys are absolute sweethearts and I haven't thanked you yet! So thanks a bunch! This is mostly a very descriptive chapter. 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"Rinoa!" Seifer shouted. He turned the corner and barely caught the fleeting glimpse of the young brunette running towards the foyer. "Rinoa, wait a second!" 

She didn't stop. She nearly threw open the door, almost knocking down one of the maids as she passed. Seifer tore down the hall way after her. He was running towards the doors when a large man stood in his way. Seifer nearly skidded to a stop as he narrowed his eyes and glared at the man standing in his way. 

"Can I help you?" Auron asked. 

"Not now!" Seifer snarled. He attempted to run past the body guard, but was held back by a firm grip on his shoulder. The blond whirled around and was about to yell when Irvine ran out from the hall way. He stopped in his tracks as he saw Seifer standing there. 

"Where's Rinoa!?" he gasped. 

"She ran out the door and he won't let me through!" Seifer shouted. 

Irvine looked at Auron. "Auron, we don't have time for this!" He exclaimed. "Get out of our way! We need to catch up with her!" 

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Auron said. "You're forgetting that I am to protect Rinoa." 

"We KNOW your job!" Irvine gasped. "But we're not going to hurt her, we just need to talk to her!" 

"She doesn't feel like talking." Auron stated simply. 

"I don't have time for this!" Irvine said, frustrated. He began to rush past the man, when Auron's other hand clamped down on his shoulder. Irvine frowned. "Let me go, Auron." 

"I said she doesn't feel like talking." 

"How would you know how she feels!?" Seifer shouted. "We've known her longer than you!" 

"She ran out of here crying. You called out to her to stop and she didn't," he told them casually. "Therefore, she doesn't want to talk to you." 

"She'll talk to me." Irvine insisted. 

"You really think so?" Auron asked. 

"Of course I do!" Irvine shouted. 

The man, who was still wearing sun glasses, merely shrugged and lifted his hands off their shoulders. Irvine ran out the door as Seifer sent him one last glare before following behind Irvine. They ran down the steps and stood before the drive way. Irvine looked around in the dark. "Where is she?" 

To answer his question, screeching tires were heard. Seifer lifted up his head and frowned. "You've got to be kidding me..." 

"You gave her your KEYS!?" Irvine shouted into the foyer of the Caraway Mansion. Auron stood there, looking stoic as ever. "ARE YOU INSANE!?" 

Seifer watched in shock as the black car with the tinted windows sped out of the drive way and nearly crashed through the iron gates while they were opening. The blond turned to Irvine. "Forget that! Let's go after her!" 

"Right!" Irvine agreed. They rushed down the drive way to where Irvine's car was parked. They got into the car and Irvine's eyes went wide. "Where the hell are my KEYS!?" He patted his jacket as he sat on the driver's seat. 

"What the hell do you mean where are they!?" Seifer snapped. "Did you drop them!?" 

"No!" Irvine said. He looked in his breast pocket and frowned. Swearing, he got out of the car and began to look around the ground next to the car. "Don't just sit there!" He told the blond sitting in the passenger's seat. "Help me find the keys!" 

Seifer grumbled as he got out of the car and began to search as well. Auron smirked as he reached into the pocket of his coat and slipped a pair of keys with a model Exeter key chain into it. He turned around and stopped. General Caraway was walking out of the hall way, a lost look on his face. 

"Sir, Rinoa stole my car-" he began. He had run into the young female as she rushed out. He was coming up the stairs, having had forgotten something, when she rushed down and jumped into his running car. She had looked up at him with tearful eyes and apologized. Then she closed the door. 

"That's fine..." Caraway mumbled numbly. 

Auron raised an eyebrow. "Sir, I cannot return home-" 

"Stay for the night." the man mumbled. He slowly began to drag himself up to his room. His head was lowered and his eyes were dulled down. Suddenly, the foreboding military general looked like a weary old man. 

The body guard merely nodded. He turned and looked back out the door to the two men frantically searching for Irvine's car keys. Slowly, his eyes drifted back to the now closed gates. 

* * *

Tears were running down her face and rimming her eyes. Her vision was partially blurred as she drove down the streets of Deling City in a near mad rampage. She had nearly run three red lights in her blind driving. She sniffled for the billionth time as her usually cheerful lips were cursed with a miserable frown. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. 

Her fists had long since turned white from the way she clamped them on to the dark steering wheel. She glanced down at the odometer. She was nearing 100 mph. She then looked over at the radio. It was seven forty-six. Tearfully, she stepped on the gas and sped out of the Deling City limits. 

Before long, she had reached a long dark road leading out to the beach where Irvine had taken her that night she had first talked to Squall on his cellular phone. For miles around, there was nothing but the dark oblivion of the night. Occasionally there were specks of yellow in the distance signaling a house. 

The road wasn't lit at all. There were no lights and she had to rely on the car's head lights. Luckily the road was fairly flat and straight. She turned on the radio, hoping to help silence her mind with another noise. It turned on and it was a classical music station. She took a deep breath and tried to get swept away in the music, but failed. 

All she could think about was her father and Squall. *How could they?* she asked herself as she drove. She began to lessen her speed. *Squall...how could you say that? How could use me as a bargaining chip? How could call me and tell me you love me? How could you hold me in your arms and show me how much love me after that? You bastard!* 

Then there was her father. She couldn't stand to be in the same city as him at that moment, let alone the same house. She had to get out of there as soon as could or else she would've gone insane. What Squall had done hurt her, but what her father done hurt her more. Why had he hid it? It involved her and she had a right to know! And then rather than tell her, he sends Irvine, not just any random sharp shooter, but IRVINE, her life long friend, to kill the man she loves. 

Or was it thought she LOVED him? Her heart clenched in her chest. Squall had used her. She gave him her heart and soul, her body and mind and he had used her. He had held her in his strong arms until the dawn broke through the window, KNOWING that he had used her to gain leverage with her father. How could he? 

While it hurt to know that he had used her like that, part of her couldn't believe that he would turn her in. As a matter of fact, she felt absolutely sure that he wouldn't. Yet, he had threatened to. She would've defied the world for him. 

She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Slowly, Irvine and Seifer's words echoed in her mind. They replaced Squall and her father's actions with the bet that they made. 

If Squall came in first, Rinoa could be free to return to the Garden and be with any one she wanted. If Squall lost, he would never bother her again. But if he won...Rinoa's breathing was shallow. She breaked suddenly and the car skidded forward. The sound of screeching tires echoed in her ears as she put the car into park. She removed the keys from the ignition and got out of the car. 

A cool breeze swept over her body as she closed her eyes and inhaled the salty sea air. She let out a shaky breath as she closed the door of the car and stepped out into the sand before the side of the road. She opened her eyes and saw the wide expanse of sandy shore ahead of her and beyond it, the storming ocean. 

_ This ocean goes all the way around the world, Rin...the same water you're touching, I'm touching. _

His words echoed in her ears as she stopped right at the water's edge. Her sandal clad feet were invaded with icy water. Drops of salty tears fell and joined the sea as she fell to her knees. She began to cry as she sat there. The waves lapped against her legs as they rose up the shore. Her body crouched forward as her shoulders heaved with each sob that wracked her body. 

Moments passed and she remained in that position. Her legs grew numb from the cold waves. Tears continued to fall down her face and into the ocean. Rinoa tilted her head back and looked up at the endless darkness above her. 

"You say you love me!!" Rinoa screamed into the night sky. "Then WHY are you hurting me!?" 

* * *

Squall looked down the grassy hill at the motorcycle camp. He had arrived first again that night. After he ate, he told Tifa he would take a walk. She was hesitant to let him go, afraid that Sephiroth would send a hit man after him or something. But Squall said he would be fine. He even brought along Lionheart, which he had the others carry for him while he rode. 

On the sloped hill he looked down at the lights below and smiled to himself. His time was excellent so far and if he continued that pace, he would surely come in first. Then he and Rinoa could be together and her father couldn't say anything. He looked down at his gloved hands. 

His phone was being rolled back and forth between his hands and he stopped. He flipped it open and dialed the first number listed - Selphie's. Squall silently prayed that Rinoa was with them yet again so that he could hear her sweet voice. Just the sound of her and he could feel the stress of the race leave his body. His name slipping from her lips elated him to a nirvana. It encouraged him. Gave him hope. 

It reminded him what he was racing for in the first place. *Funny how priorities change...* he thought to himself as he waited patiently on the phone. He had his whole life planned out. He would be the diligent SeeD. On the side, he would race motorcycles. He wanted to win the G-14 and gain international acclaim not just as a SeeD or as President Loire's son, but as an excellent racer. 

Then he would settle down at the Garden and work there the rest of his life. It was kind of ironic how his life was changed from it's motorcycle and SeeD oriented life when he was ON his motorcycle on his way BACK to the Garden. The night he nearly ran into one Miss Rinoa Heartilly was the night he knew he'd never look at life the same way again. 

While he was sorry for nearly running her over, he found that he didn't regret nearly doing so. First of all, he hadn't actually hit her. And second, it was how they met. He looked up at the sky. It had been dark that night. The sky was clear and sparkling with stars. No star had out shone her... 

Squall mentally hit himself. *Since when did I think like that?* he asked, partially amused. He shook his head and concentrated on the phone. 

"You've reached Selphie! I can't answer right now, so please leave a message after the beep! BEEP! Hehehe...just kidding. The real one's coming up!" Squall rolled his eyes at the start of her voice mail. The real beep sounded. 

"Selphie, it's Squall," he said as he stood up and dusted off his clothes. "I called to see if you could relay a message to Rin for me. I came in first. I'll see you guys when I get there. Bye." He flipped the phone closed and put it back into his jacket pocket. 

"Dude!" a voice shouted behind him. Squall immediately recognized it and frowned. He turned around and saw two blond heads peeking up from behind the hill. "You don't even say 'I love you' or something flowery like that?" 

"Well, maybe he doesn't have to," Zidane said, rolling his eyes. He turned to Tidus. "Besides, I bet Rinoa doesn't keep him on as tight a leash as Yuna has you." 

"Shut up!" Tidus snapped. "Well, Dagger's got you in check, too!" 

"Shut up, lap dog." 

"You're Dagger's trained monkey!" 

"I'm going to kick your ass!" Zidane growled. 

"I'm going to kick your tail!" Tidus retorted. 

They heard a click and froze. Their eyes slowly turned towards where Squall was standing and found themselves face to face with a gun blade. "Tifa sent you, didn't she?" Squall asked. 

Tidus swallowed and nodded. Zidane grinned sheepishly. "She's our boss...and do you KNOW how hard she hits?" 

"Get up," Squall ordered. Tidus and Zidane immediately stood up. No wonder Squall was a commander. "Get back there and leave me alone." 

"But Tifa-" Tidus exclaimed. 

"I'll take care of it," he ordered. The two grumbled and headed back down the hill. Half way there, Zidane shoved Tidus. Tidus stumbled forward and started yelling as he tumbled down the hill. Squall narrowed his eyes. *And Cloud says he sees POTENTIAL in them...* 

* * *

The sun was rising and Irvine lifted his tired head. He and Seifer were leaning against the driver's side of his car. They were seated on the ground, Irvine near the front tire, Seifer by the back. "What time is it...?" Irvine asked. 

Seifer lifted his arm and looked at his sleeve. "Almost six thirty..." 

"Damn..." Irvine grumbled. He rubbed his tired eyes. "Where are my keys...?" 

"If I knew, we wouldn't be here would me?" Seifer asked. After a night of frantically searching for the proverbial 'needle in the haystack', they had finally collapsed by the car. Seifer's usual edge was all but gone. 

"Where do you think she is...?" Irvine mumbled tiredly. 

"I don't know..." Seifer grumbled. "I almost don't care..." 

"You know...I'm starting to wonder if my keys are even outside..." Irvine mumbled. 

"They could be inside." 

"Dammit." 

Seifer tilted his head back against the car and winced as the blinding morning sun hit his eyes. He squinted at something in the distance. "I think I need to get some sleep." 

"No kidding..." Irvine mumbled with a tired yawn. 

"No," Seifer said. He scrambled up to his feet and took a step forward. "I'm seeing things..." 

"What?" Irvine grumbled and stood up next to the blond. He squinted as well and his eyes grew large. 

The gates to the mansion had been opened and slowly a black sedan rolled up the drive way. They held their breaths as the heavy black car approached them. It stopped in front of them, right before the steps to the mansion. It turned off and the driver's side door opened. 

"Rinoa!" Seifer shouted. A frail looking young woman dressed in a denim sun dress under a dark blue sweater stepped out of the car. She slowly closed the door and leaned against the car. 

Swearing, Irvine rushed forward to catch her as she slipped from the side of the car. He caught her in his arms as she fell to her right. Her face was paler than usual and taunt with slight bags under her usually lively eyes. "Rinoa!?" Irvine gasped. "Rinoa, are you awake!?" 

"I still love him..." Rinoa whispered quietly. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply. "I thought about it all night, Irvy..." 

"And you still love him?" Irvine asked questioning, not sure who exactly 'he' was. He looked over at Seifer. "Get the door open, I'll carry her in." 

Seifer nodded and stood up. He rushed up the steps of the mansion and began to pound on the door. "Hey! Open up! Rinoa's back!" 

It didn't take long before the doors opened. Several maids rushed out and Auron came out swiftly. Irvine had Rinoa in his arms and was cradling her against him as he carried her up the steps. 

"Give her to me." Auron said. 

Possessively, Irvine shook his head and pulled Rinoa closer to him. "I'll take her to her room myself." he snapped. 

Seifer was ordering the maids to get her something to eat and some medication. Irvine slowly went up the stairs, carrying his best friend back to her room. Seifer rushed ahead of him so he could open the door for them. He frowned as he looked down at her when she passed him. She looked so tired. 

Irvine laid her out on the bed and the maids came in. They ushered the two men out so that they could help the tired mistress of the house get dressed. Tiredly, the two men stood outside her room. They leaned against the wall on either side of the door. Heavy footsteps approached them and they turned to their left. 

Auron was heading towards Rinoa's room. "Look what you did!" Seifer shouted immediately. He straightened himself and stood in front of Auron, blocking him from heading into Rinoa's room. "You let her run out on her own and look what happened!" 

"What if she had gotten into a car accident or something!?" Irvine added, obviously furious with the older man. "She might not have come back at all!" 

"Some body guard you are!" Seifer yelled. "You let your charge nearly go out and kill herself!" 

"We don't know where the hell she was. What if something happened to her?" Irvine continued. 

Auron merely stood there. "Are you two done?" he asked coolly. 

"What do you mean are we done!?" Seifer growled. "You are the worst body guard in the world-" 

"I let Rinoa leave so she could have time to think this through. If you two had gone with her, she wouldn't have able to sort out her thoughts and emotions on her on. She would've been influenced by you and then she'd spend the rest of her life wondering if her decisions were truly hers. She would grow to resent herself. In order to avoid that, I felt that she had to see this through on her own. Make her own decisions, listen to her own heart. Follow her own path. Even if it meant letting her fall into harm's way." Auron told them. 

"So you'd put her harm's way just so she could think for herself!?" Seifer asked with resentment. 

"It's better than not letting her think at all." 

Irvine's anger quickly diminished as Seifer's fist hit the wall in anger. The cowboy removed his hat and ran his hand down his face tiredly. "I see what you're saying..." he mumbled. "We can't control her life." 

"No one should but her." Auron replied. 

Seifer snorted. "Since when did you get so wise?" he sneered. 

"She's not my first charge whose life she needed to get in control of," Auron told them casually. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out something metal. He tossed them at Irvine. "Here are your keys." 

Irvine's eyes went wide and Seifer turned to glare at Auron. "You had them the whole time, you bastard!?" Seifer growled. Auron merely smirked. 

"I wasn't the one stupid enough to look around the car for the key the whole night." 

"I-" Seifer began and took a step forward. Rinoa's door opened and the maids came out. Seifer narrowed his eyes at Auron once more before following Irvine into Rinoa's room. He slammed the door in the body guard's face and smiled satisfied. 

He turned around and looked over at the bed. Rinoa was laying down, her eyes closed, but a smile on her face. She was wearing some warm short sleeve pajamas. "Rin...?" Irvine asked quietly. 

"Yeah...?" she whispered. 

"Are you okay?" Irvine asked carefully. 

"Yeah," she said. Her smile widened a bit. "I thought it through the whole night..." she said, amusement in her voice. "And I still love Squall." 

"Even after what he said to get in the race?" Seifer asked with disdain. 

"I thought about that," Rinoa admitted. "I thought about it a lot. And I don't think he would've actually told his father my secret," Her brown eyes slowly opened and she blinked lightly. "Before he left, I got to see him...did you know?" 

"You got to see him?" Irvine asked with a frown. He narrowed his eyes. "You sneaked off to the Deling City Hotel-" 

"We had a talk," Rinoa cut him off. Irvine couldn't help but be annoyed that his warnings were not taken into consideration. "And he said that no matter what I heard, I should remember that he loves me...and that he would do anything to protect me..." Her eyes swelled up with tears she thought she had cried all out of. She let out a slight chuckle. "After this...I kind of know what he means by doing anything to protect me." 

"Rin," Irvine said as he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry...I was contracted to-" 

"Kill him," Rinoa nodded slowly. "I heard. Irvine, don't be sorry," she turned her head to look up at him. A warm, familiar smile graced her face. "If you hadn't gone, he'd be lost for sure. As far as I'm concerned, you saved his life." 

"Told you." Seifer coughed behind Irvine. The red head rolled his eyes and stood up. 

"We got to talk to him," Irvine said. "And the guy said the same thing...it's like you two are perfect for each other." 

Rinoa laughed quietly, but obviously tiredly as well. "I hope so," she said softly. "Guys...I'm going to get some sleep. Thanks..." 

"For what?" Seifer sighed. "Making you rush out of here in tears, steal a car, and drive off?" 

"For telling me the truth," Rinoa said. "Now, I'll make it even, but you can't say that I anything." 

Seifer raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" 

"We were playing truth or dare and Quistis choose truth," Rinoa told him. "She said that she thought you were cute enough to date." 

Seifer blushed but scoffed arrogantly as he crossed his arms and turned his head away. "Pssh...That's no secret." 

"What about Selphie!?" Irvine asked energetically. "Did she say anything about me?" 

"Yeah," Rinoa said. "She said that next time, she's going to feel your head to see if it's really lumpy." 

"You TOLD HER!?" Irvine asked, horrified. Rinoa nodded and grinned as she closed her eyes. 

"Yeah," she breathed. "Good night, guys..." Her voice trailed away and she drifted off to sleep. 

Irvine stood there with his mouth gaping open. His most trusted friend had told the girl he liked that he had a lumpy head. *And she thought SHE was betrayed...* 

Before he could react, someone grabbed the back of the collar of his shirt. He turned around and saw Auron dragging both him and Seifer out of the room. "What the hell are you doing!?" Seifer growled. 

"My job," Auron practically dragged them down the hall, down the stairs, and to the front door. A maid who was passing opened the door for him and he tossed the two men out. "Have a good day." 

The door slammed in their faces and as Seifer adjusted the collar of his white coat, Irvine frowned. "You know, for an old guy, he's pretty strong." 

* * *

He was a whole day ahead of schedule and he smiled. He'd see Rinoa on the thirteenth day of the G-14 if he continued. Squall couldn't believe his luck. All that time he had gained was going to pay off. As happy as he was, he still couldn't help but wonder if Rinoa would actually be at the finish line or not. What if her father didn't let her? 

Squall didn't allow himself to dwell on the thought. He had a race to win and he was a mere half way through that day's ride. He'd think about it some other time. At the present, he needed to concentrate on the road. His gloved hands were gripping the handles as he followed the path deep within the thick forests of the area. 

He had to be careful not to get side tracked and hit a tree or something stupid like that. It had happened before and he was told that even Cloud once didn't see a fallen log and was launched forward ten feet. Luckily, he had time to get back on the bike and get going again. Cloud didn't really appreciate that bit of information being told by Tifa. 

But it served as a good warning. As far as Squall knew, his main competition, the homicidal white haired man, was at least a minute or two behind him. He just had to continue his pace, but his instincts told him to be aware just in case. 

To his left side of the path was the downward slowing hill side covered with thick forest. To his right was the rest of the hill. At some parts, the hill just ended abruptly into a cliff. It wasn't enough to kill a man, but his bike would be seriously damaged it if hit the trees and stones on the way down. Then again, so could he. 

If he so much as made one minor mistake and slipped, he would definitely plummet. To be a mere three days away from the finish line and loose all the time he had gained would be a humiliation. To make things worse, it had rained the night before and parts of the dirt path were muddy. 

As a result, he began to slow down just enough to take the corners without flying off the edge and into dozens of trees. He knew not to over think the situation. It would be best for him to just go with his gut feeling. It hadn't steered him wrong so far. 

However, his decrease in speed caused him to fall behind his usual time. Right behind, he began to hear the sounds of another motorcycle approaching. He narrowed his eyes and swore. Sephiroth was catching up to him. 

Green mako eyes stared at him with a devious smirk. *Slowing down to be careful? What a good idea!* He gripped his handles and his bike sped forward. *I've seen men fall from these path ways and never rejoin the race. All because of one stupid mistake...* 

The roaring of another motorcycle was close behind him. Too close for comfort. Squall began to speed up. According to the map, there were more corners coming as the hill sloped downward. It would be best for him not to speed up too much otherwise he could loose control. 

Mud was hitting the shins of his legs as he cruised down the damp earthen pavement. The pressure was heating up behind him. Sephiroth was almost at his back tire and Squall's heart began to race faster with anticipation. The sheer presence of that man was making him tense. 

His muscles began to get stiff as he grew agitated with the competition. He resisted the urge to look behind him and see just how far Sephiroth was. The white haired man seemed to be charging behind him. 

There were many things that humans did when they were under such pressure. Sometimes, even the best of the best would make a simple mistake. Had there not been that much pressure and had they not been thinking so much about it, the mistake wouldn't have happened. But unfortunately for Squall, he was over thinking it. 

For a split second, his body didn't react. He gripped the handles and turned his body too late as they rounded a corner. His eyes went wide as he felt the machine that he considered to be part of him, suddenly fall out from under him. His body was falling to his left side and as he looked up, he saw the back lights and white hair of his opponent flying ahead of him. 

His body felt numb as he was suspended in air for nothing longer than a nano second. He heard his bike crashing below him as his body slammed against something hard. He bounced forward and hit the mud and fallen dead leaves on the forest floor. Below him, he could hear his bike stutter as metal hit live wood. 

Squall had fallen off the race course. His bike had slipped from under him and tumbled down a hill, mutilating itself as it slammed into tree after tree and rock after rock. Tiredly, he crawled over on to his side from where he had ended up on his stomach. 

He pulled off his helmet with one bruised hand and winced as pain shot through his body. He tore off the heavy head protector and looked down. "Shit..." 

His bike was upside down, it's front wheel smashed in. Assorted parts littered the ground in a trail to the bike. It was pinned against a tree and a branch which had fallen on it. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. It was over for him. With his bike out of service, there was no way he could catch up with Sephiroth now, let alone get to camp on time. 

Swearing, he slammed his fist against the dirt that was at his side. *Rinoa...* he closed his eyes tightly. *Rinoa, I'm sorry...* 

His head was starting to pound and he merely laid there. He didn't know how many minutes passed, but slowly he stood himself up. He pushed himself off the ground, wincing the entire time. Pain shot through his legs as well as the rest of his body as he looked back up at the path. He took a deep breath and looked down at the hill. 

Through the thick foliage, he could see the dirt race course opening into a clearing at the bottom of the hill. In a few minutes, Sephiroth would emerge into that clearing and shoot forward. Squall looked back at his bike and slowly began to stumble forward. 

His dark hair was filled with fallen leaves and dirt as he reached the distorted vehicle. He let out a heavy breath as he stood next to it. Squall swallowed hard and reached forward. He pulled it up and turned it right side up. He shook his head as he could easily see that the front tire was completely messed up. The head light was also busted and parts of it had been concaved inward due to the impact against the trees. 

Squall stood there, now unsure of what to do. He tried to start the bike and heard it stutter. He tried it again and listened as it died. He tired it once more and he heard a faint sound of a motor. He narrowed his eyes and listened again. 

His head perked up and turned around. It wasn't HIS bike that was making that sound. He looked up towards the path way, but the sound wasn't coming from there. It was getting louder and louder. Squall looked around him, confused. Then he saw it. Several moto-crossers were heading towards him and Squall's eyes went wide. They were cutting through the forest with ease. 

Except one of them was riding a regular motorcycle. Squall stood there, rooted in his place as they reached him. The sounds of their machines echoed in his ears, almost mocking him, as the four riders circled him. Squall was clutching his bleeding arm as he turned from side to side wearily. 

One of them stopped and Squall realized that it was a woman wearing all black leather. She was the one riding the motorcycle. With smooth elegance, she lifted her helmet over her head and revealed a pale face with red eyes and gray-silver hair slicked back. Her red eyes rested on Squall. "Leonhart?" she asked. 

Squall narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but nodded. "Who are you?" 

She didn't answer. She got off her bike and signaled for the others to follow her lead. She began to speak in another language to the other riders, all men. Squall eyed them with doubt. Suddenly, the male with the short blond hair attempted to get his bike. Squall immediately got in his way. 

"Let him at it," the woman stated. "Otherwise you won't be able to catch up." 

"Catch up...?" Squall asked. Before he knew it, his bike was pulled away from him and the three men were working on it. He noticed their tools that were carried in back packs and watched as one of them took the front tire off the woman's bike and quickly replaced it when his. "Who the hell are you people!?" 

"We work for a friend." the woman said casually. 

"Who?" 

"We're not allowed to say," the woman replied. She stood over the three men as they worked on Squall's bike with such vigor and quickness, Squall wondered if they really knew what they were doing. She looked at her watch. "Thirty minutes. That's enough! He's wasted enough time as it is!" 

The men scampered away from the bike. The one with the short blond hair tossed the keys to Squall. He motioned to the bike and seemed to be telling him to start it. Squall took his keys and started the bike. It started up immediately and the men congratulated themselves on a job well done. 

"How-" Squall began, but the woman cut him off. The men were getting back on their bikes and she went to sit behind one of them since her bike was no longer usable. 

"Don't ask questions," she said. "Cut straight down the hill. Don't bother with the path. You need to catch up." 

"Who are you people?" Squall asked. The woman merely smirked and tossed him his helmet, which had been retrieved earlier by one of the men. 

"I'd get going if I were you," the woman said. Just as she said that, Squall began to hear the sounds of more motorcycles approaching. "They're catching up." 

Squall nodded and put his helmet back on. He quickly got on his bike and revved it. Within a second, he was practically cutting through the mountain. *I don't know who they are or why they did that, but I don't have time to think about it...* 

With that in mind, Squall tightened his hold on the handles and leaned forward as he twisted himself and his bike around trees, shrubs, and stones. He could see the end of the hill side path ahead and smirked. 

He disappeared from their sight the red eyed woman took a phone out of her black leather clothes and opened it up. She quickly dialed in a number and waited. "Hello...? This is Agent Paine, sir," she said formally. "We've arrived this morning to the designated spot sir." 

"And Leonhart?" a deep, slightly nervous voice asked. 

"We've just helped him recover from mistake, General," Paine said as she grabbed her helmet. "Shall we continue?" 

"Yes, keep an eye on him and report back to me. Good job, agent." 

"Thank you, sir," she paused. "Sir...permission to ask one question?" 

"Permission granted, agent." 

"Why the change in operation? You told us not to get involved and just to report to you," Paine said hesitantly. "Why the sudden change to assistance and service from recon?" 

The man who was miles away, sitting behind a desk, turned around on his big leather chair. He looked down at a wooden frame on his oak desk. A little girl with dark hair in pig tails with one missing tooth smiled back at him happily. "His guardian angel needed help. That is all." 

* * *

"Where is he?" Tifa frowned as she looked at her watch for the billionth time in a minute. She was pacing the front of the tent nervously. 

Cloud was sitting down next to a large tool box, nervously playing with legs of his pants. Behind him, Zidane was looking over at the now cold food on the table. Tidus was nervously chewing on his gum. 

"He should be here already..." Cloud mumbled. "He's never been this far behind Sephiroth before..." 

The blonde's blue eyes lifted to look across the camp. Sephiroth had arrived forty five minutes earlier and no one was at his end. This was the first time that Squall wasn't less than a minute behind him. 

"I'm seriously worried," Tifa said in a concerned voice. "What if something happened to him?" 

"Calm down, Tifa," Cloud assured her as he looked up at the pacing, nervous woman. "Squall is a survivor. He'll be fine." 

"Where is he!?" she exclaimed, not listening to Squall. 

She looked at her watch once more and Zidane looked at the official time clock that was that the start of the camp. He mentally swore. "If he's not here in five minutes, I'm going after him!" 

"I'll go with you!" Tidus agreed. 

"You're not going anywhere," Cloud said as he stood up. "Team members aren't allowed to go after a teammate until all the other riders have arrived." 

"No way!" Zidane said stubbornly. "What if he's out there lying in a ditch!?" 

"He could be bleeding or unconscious or something!" Tidus added. "We can't just leave him there!" 

"If we go after him, that'll automatically disqualify him!" Cloud retorted loudly. "What if he comes just after you left? Then what? He's disqualified!" 

The two younger blondes looked down and Tifa ran her hand down her face. "I know you're worried," Tifa whispered. "I'M terrified that he could be out there hurt, but we can't. It's the rules." 

"But we can't just sit here-" Tidus began. Suddenly, someone outside started shouting. 

Cloud stepped out of the tent and narrowed his eyes. "Someone's coming!" he shouted. 

"Is it him!?" Tidus gasped. 

"It's dark, stupid, how the hell would he know!?" Zidane snapped. 

"It is him," Squall said. Tidus gave Zidane the 'I told you so' look. "I recognize the engine...but...it sounds different..." 

"Forget different!" Tifa shouted. "Get ready!" Cloud waited at the side as Tidus and Zidane stepped back. The black and blue motorcycle approached them and seemed to wobble. 

"Shit!" Cloud shouted loudly. Squall stopped the bike, kicked up the kick stand, and after removed his helmet to reveal a dirt matted face, slowly slipped from his seat and fell off the bike. 

* * *

It was dinner and Rinoa finally emerged from her room. Without a though, she walked down the stairs and headed to the dining room. One of the double doors were open and she walked through. 

"Good evening Miss Caraway, what would you like for dinner?" a maid immediately greeted her. 

"Whatever is ready is fine." Rinoa answered. She took her seat at the dinner table as she was being served. 

It was then that she noticed someone standing by the window, a wine glass in hand. She immediately looked away. "I need to speak to you." 

Her father. She really didn't want to see him right then and there. *I don't want to talk to you...* She didn't answer him. 

Caraway turned and looked over at his daughter. Her head was turned away, but pride wouldn't allow her to leave the room just because of him. She was stubborn. Just like he was. 

"If you don't want to talk to me, that's fine," Caraway told her. He walked over to her and pulled a chair out for him. Rinoa kept her face turned away from him and focused on the food that the maids placed in front of her. "Just listen." 

*Like I have a choice...* she thought to herself. 

"I know that I might seem like I'm over protective..." 

*You were going to have someone killed. That's not a 'seems like'.* 

"But you are my daughter," he told her sternly. He put his wine glass down. "I don't want to see you hurt." 

Rinoa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked up and glared at him. "You have told me that a million times, FATHER, but you don't seem to understand that you're hurting me as well." she told him bitterly. 

Pain shot across the man's eyes and he turned them away. "I'm sorry about trying to kill Squall..." he whispered. 

"Don't tell ME you're sorry," Rinoa snapped. "You apologize to Squall. And to Irvine for sending him to kill Squall. How could you? You keep telling me over and over that you don't want me hurt, yet you're consistently hurting me by doing all of this!" 

"I don't know how else to protect you!" Caraway shouted. Rinoa jerked her head back. "You have no idea how much you mean to me. You are the ONE thing I have left of Julia. You represent all the love I ever had and when your mother died, I swore to myself that I would never let you get hurt." 

"Well, you're doing a fine job of that, aren't you father!?" Rinoa said. "You tear me away from Squall...what do you have against him!? His father!? Is that it? Is is Esthar's President that you hate!?" 

"No! What I hate is how a Loire might take you away!" Rinoa's eyes went wide. She hadn't expected him to say that. "Your mother was in love with Laguna Loire before I met her. And even though she said she loved me, I couldn't help but feel jealous of him. He was a shadow that I couldn't compete with. When we had you, your mother grabbed my hand. She was tears and she said 'don't leave me'. To ME. When you were born, you were the most beautiful child in the world. And you represented how much your mother and I cared for each other. I had to hide the fact that you were a sorceress..." 

Her father stood up and ran his hand down his face. Rinoa watched him, unsure of what else to do. "Are you ashamed of me?" 

His eyes went wide and rose to meet hers. "NO!" he nearly yelled. "Rinoa, you are my pride and joy. I don't care WHAT you are, you are my daughter and I love you. I just want you to be safe. I'm not keeping your secret because I'm ashamed of you. I'm keeping it because I want to protect you." 

"And what about Squall and his father?" 

"Laguna Loire defeated and sealed away the last sorceress," her father told her. "Do you understand why I wouldn't let you go to Esthar now? Or why I didn't want you around his son? I don't want him to do the same to you. I don't want him to find out and seal you away." 

"But Squall..." Rinoa murmured. "He'd never..." 

"I don't care," Caraway insisted. "I was always afraid that Loire would come and take the one thing I cared the most about away from me. I was afraid that one day he would show up and take Julia away. And then I find out his son is the commander at Balamb Garden...and I'm afraid that he'll take YOU away," he looked at his daughter. "I don't want to lose you, Rinoa. I just want you safe." 

"Father," Rinoa whispered in a shaky voice. "You can't protect me forever." 

He looked so sad and Rinoa realized that he knew he had lost. The look was foreign to her father's face, but the instant she saw it, she knew what it mean. He closed his eyes. "But you'll always be my little girl." 


	15. Unexpected Homecoming

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Fifteen: Unexpected Homecoming_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** Thanks to Freakker for pointing out my typo in the last chapter. I went back and fixed it. I also fixed the chapter name for chapter 11. I was wondering why I had two chapter tens...anyway, Fr33k S+Yl3 23 - I tried to email you, but I got back the mailer.demon. :( Can you send me your email addy again? I haven't updated because I was in VEGAS! 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"Squall!" Tifa shrieked as his body hit the ground hard. "Cloud!" she cried out as she rushed over to the brunette's side and looked up at the blond who was rushing over. 

"Zidane, go to the medical tent! Tidus, help me get up him!" Cloud rushed as he knelt by the young man. He took his arm and put hit over his shoulder. 

"I'll go get his bed ready!" Tifa shouted as she stood up and rushed to the closed off area behind the screen where Squall usually slept. Tidus went around to Squall's other side and took his left arm. Zidane rushed out of the tent, sprinting towards the medical tent down the path. 

"Squall? Squall, c'mon, boy, speak to me!" Cloud said as he and Tidus dragged Squall's near six foot frame towards the bed. Tifa pushed aside some sheets and watched with worry as they laid the young man on to the bed. 

"I'm fine..." Squall gasped out breathy. 

"Yeah, bull," Tifa snapped. She knelt by his side and began to remove his clothes. "You're feeling so great you fell off your bike, huh?" 

"I'm okay..." Squall insisted as he tried to sit up. 

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Cloud said as he held the young man down as Tifa removed his racing uniform. "You're sitting here until Zidane gets back with a doctor." 

"I don't need a doctor." 

"They should sedate you, too..." Tifa mumbled. She tugged off the uniform and his boots, leaving Squall only in an undershirt and hunter green boxers with little stars on them. Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Interesting choice of undies, Squall..." 

"Tifa, go check on his time..." Cloud sighed. She nodded and took his clothes out with her. Cloud pulled the blanket over the brunette's body. "What the hell happened, Squall?" 

"Nothing..." Squall grumbled. 

"No, not nothing," Cloud snapped. "I'm not stupid, Squall. What the hell happened back there? You're almost an hour behind Sephiroth, who's in the lead now." 

"I'm sorry-" 

"Don't apologize!" Cloud exclaimed as he pulled up a chair and sat next to Squall. "You have leaves in your hair...your uniform is filled with dirt..." he narrowed his blue eyes. "Did you fall down a hill?" 

"Yes." Squall's answer was short and to the point and Cloud let out a groan. He ran his hands through his hair. 

"Damn...are you all right?" 

"According to you, no." 

"Cloud, the doctor's here!" Zidane called from the outside of the tent. The blond looked up. 

"I'm going to go check on your bike," Cloud told him. He frowned. "And DON'T try to fight off the doctor, understand?" 

"Whatever." 

Cloud rushed out of the room and was replaced by a male doctor. Squall laid there, not moving with an annoyed look on his face as the doctor checked him. After a few minutes, Tifa came in. "I got your time, Squally," she told him affectionately. "Ten hours, six minutes, four seconds flat." 

Squall closed his eyes and mentally swore. That was his worse time yet. His hands clenched at his side and the doctor asked him not to move. "Great..." he mumbled. 

The doctor checked Squall's abdomen and frowned. There were large bruises over his body and when he touched them, Squall winced. 

"The good news is that you're not going to die and there are no broken bones that I can make out," the doctor said. Squall let out a breath of relief, but winced as his felt a burning sensation. "But it will still hurt like hell." 

"I figured." Squall mumbled. 

"I'm going to go get a brace for you to wear under your uniform," the doctor said as he stood up. "I'll return shortly." 

"Wait...what brace?" Squall said, his eye brows furrowed in concern. "What do you mean I need a brace?" 

"There is still a chance that you could get a fracture," the doctor told him sternly. "Or worse and if you want to continue racing, you should wear the brace." 

"Isn't there anything else I can do?" Squall asked. "The brace could effect my-" 

"The brace is specially designed for people on the move like yourself," the doctor insisted. "Either you wear the brace, Mr. Leonhart, or you don't continue." 

Squall laid there. He felt his head nodding and the doctor headed out to tell the pit team leader the situation. Squall could hear him talking to Tifa and Tifa's concern and then her agreement. Tifa escorted the doctor out and returned a few minutes later with Zidane in tow holding a tray of food. 

"Lucky for you, he says you just have to wear a brace. Some men would've come back with a few broken bones or worse. I suggest you get a good night's rest and eat." Tifa said. Zidane put the tray on the folding chair were Cloud had been sitting. 

"I will." Squall grumbled. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It suddenly hurt to do so, but he swallowed. If he told Tifa, she would take him to get checked right then and there. 

"Good," the busty brunette replied. "Do you need help eating?" 

Squall scowled and narrowed his ice blue eyes at the woman. She held her hands up in her defense. "I'll be FINE." he hissed. 

"Okay, okay..." Tifa sighed. She walked out around the corner and Squall eyed his food. He took a deep breath and sat up. Pain shot through his back side where he had hit the tree earlier. 

Grumbling, he slowed his movements until he was in a sitting position. He reached over and dragged the chair closer to him so he could eat. Just as he lifted up his fork, Cloud wandered into the room holding one of the bike tires. 

"Do you know what this is?" Cloud asked, holding up the tire. 

Squall raised an eyebrow. "A tire." 

"An Al Bhed tire," Cloud insisted. He held it up and pointed to the insignia on the rubber. "What happened back there?" 

"I made a stupid mistake," Squall replied gruffly. "I slid down a hill." 

"Then what?" 

Squall paused in mid eating and looked at Cloud. "Some people showed up and fixed my bike." 

"What was wrong with it?" Cloud continued. 

"The tire was screwed up, parts had fallen off...stuff that happens to a bike when it falls down a hill and hits trees and rocks on it's way down." Squall answered in a collected voice. Cloud let out a heavy sigh and squatted down with the tire in front of him. 

"And the Al Bhed tire?" Cloud mumbled. "Where it that come from?" 

"These people showed up all of a sudden and fixed the bike," Squall explained. "I don't know who they were, they just did it. They spoke another language-" 

"Do you know what Al Bhed is?" Cloud asked. Squall stopped as he was chewing his food and narrowed his eyes. Blue eyes met even bluer ones as Cloud looked directly at Squall. "The Galbadian military's special mechanics task force. They can fix an air ship like that." he said with a snap of his fingers. 

Squall's eyes narrowed. "Galbadian military?" Squall mumbled. He swallowed his food and stopped completely. "But...why?" 

"I don't know," Cloud said. He stood back up and looked back at the tire. "But if they hadn't shown up, you'd be screwed for sure." 

Squall stared at the tire, unsure what to think. If Cloud was right and those people were Al Bhed of Galbadia's army, what were they doing helping him? "Cloud! What are you doing?" Tifa's voice shouted from behind the screen. "Will you leave him alone to eat!" 

Immediately, Cloud's face lost it's concentrated look and reverted to a happy go lucky one. "Sorry!" he said cheerfully. He glanced back at Squall. "Get some rest or else Tifa will kill me!" he insisted. Squall merely nodded. He couldn't get his eyes off of the tire that Cloud left behind. 

* * *

Rinoa closed her door and leaned against it. She lifted up her slender wrist and looked at the watch on it. She had just spent three hours talking to her father. That was the most time they've ever sat down together and actually talked. Not yelled. Not screamed at each other, but actually talked. 

It hadn't been that forced conversation, like when they usually spoke at dinner. There were no typical outbursts of disagreements. Or strange periods of silence. It was just her and father talking about the one thing they had in common that they loved. Julia Heartilly, her mother. 

Truth be told, she hadn't really thought that her father even thought that way. Years of extreme awkwardness passed between the two after her mother passed. This was a shock to say the least. Their parting words that night had filled her with incredible hope. Her father was seated next to her on the couch as they looked through a photo album of her parents right before they were married. Her mother had been meticulous in putting photos into albums, complete with little captions under each picture telling the reader who was who and where they were. 

_ "You..." Her father took a deep breath and prepared himself for her answer. "You were seeing Commander Leonhart at the garden...weren't you?" _

Rinoa had paused, unsure of how to answer. Part of her felt it was a trick to get her to confess. Confess to what? He had taken them apart anyway. She let out a heavy breath. 

"Yes, father, I was."she had told him proudly. 

She glanced over at him and watched as his eyes closed tightly. What he asked her next nearly gave her a heart attack. "And...you kept in touch with him, didn't you?" 

She had nodded. "How did you know?" 

"Because...I've never seen you happier..." 

"I love him. Nothing will change that." 

"If he hurts you..." her father took a deep breath and looked her directly in the eye. "If you're ever unhappy with him, I won't turn you away." 

Something in his eyes told her that he would probably never truly 'accept' Squall, but he would tolerate him as long as he made her happy. Knowing that, she practically floated to her room. As she fell back against her bed, her phone began to ring. She eyed it and mentally debated if she should reach for it or not. 

*It might be something important...* she thought to herself. Crawling across the bed, she picked up the baby blue receiver. "Hello, Rinoa speaking." 

"Rinoa! It's Selphie!" 

"Hey, Sel-" 

"Turn on your t.v. to channel eleven!" Selphie gasped. Her voice sounded urgent and Rinoa scrambled to her remote. She quickly turned on the television and pressed in one and one again. "It's about the race!" 

The brunette sat at the edge of her bed and looked directly at the screen. "In a spectacular turn of events, lead racer Squall Leonhart had dropped down to second place at his worst time ever. Official times show that he is almost an hour away from first place contender, Sephiroth." 

"No..." Rinoa whispered. An hour wasn't like a minute. An hour meant serious problems. Her heart began to race quickly in her chest as she felt the panic swell up. 

"It is unknown what held Leonhart back, however, his chances of winning have seriously decreased." 

Rinoa was silent. She sat on her bed, staring at the screen. "Rinoa...?" Selphie's voice asked tentatively on the other line. "Rinoa, can you here me? Are you okay?" 

"I'm...I'm fine..." she breathed shallowly. "I'm sure he'll catch up." 

"He called," Selphie said. Rinoa's heart jumped to her throat. Selphie sighed heavily, almost as if to express envy. "He said not to worry and I think he mumbled, that he loves you...I'm not sure. He kind of said it really fast." 

Rinoa smiled slightly. She could see Squall holding the phone and quickly telling Selphie to tell her that he loved her in one quick raspy grumble. "Thanks, Selphie," Rinoa replied. "That means a lot to me." 

"Oh yeah, and have you seen Irvine? I haven't been able to reach him for days!" Selphie exclaimed. In the background behind Selphie, Rinoa heard someone telling her to ask about Seifer also. "And Quistis-" 

"No! Don't tell her that I asked!" 

Rinoa struggled to keep her snickering to herself. "QUISTIS wants to know if you've seen Seifer." Selphie told her anyway. 

"I'll try to contact them for you guys," Rinoa said. "Seifer's probably at his pad here and Irvine's probably at his condo. I'll have them call you, okay?" 

"Thanks, Rin!" Selphie said. There was a pause. "And Quistis says thanks, too! Bye!" 

"Selphie!" she heard someone shriek. Rinoa laughed and hung up the phone. 

*At least I know he's okay...* Rinoa played with her fingers before reaching out and picking up the phone again. She pressed the speed dial for Irvine's condo. It rang about three times before someone answered it. 

"Mmm..." Irvine yawned. "Hey, baby, what's up?" 

"Irvine, Selphie said she's looking for you." 

"Rin?" Irvine asked, confused. He was laying on his stomach, shirtless, and sprawled across his bed. He linked at looked at the digital clock by his bed. "Aww...damn... I over slept." 

"Did you have a date with her or something?" Rinoa asked. 

"No, but I was going to see her today...thanks for the wake up call, Rin." 

"Should I call her-" 

"No, it's a surprise," Irvine said. He got off his bed and stretched out a bit. "So... how are you feeling?" 

"My father and I had a talk," Rinoa told him solemnly. "A LONG talk." 

"Are you all right?" Irvine asked worried. Rinoa chuckled. 

"Yeah...thanks for asking," she said. "We're working stuff out. Anyway, I have to go track down Seifer for Quistis. Talk to you later?" 

"Sure thing, princess," Irvine said. "Later." He hung up the phone and Rinoa pressed the 'end' button. She then pressed 'talk' and the button that sped dialed Seifer's place. 

"You have reached the home of _SEIFER, YOUR GOD_," a mechanical voice introduced, with Seifer's deep voice in the interval after it. Rinoa rolled her eyes. "Please leave a mes-" 

Suddenly, there was a sound of something being fumbled with. "Wait! Hello!?" a breathy voice gasped. "Rin? You okay?" 

*Oh yeah...he has caller ID...* Rinoa mused. "Yeah, I'm okay. But Quistis is looking for you." 

"Quisty? Why, did she call?" Seifer asked, somewhat confused, yet feeling relatively flattered. 

"Selphie called me earlier to rely a message from Squall," Rinoa blushed just saying his name, but continued. "And said that she was looking for Irvine and that Quistis wanted to know if I saw you." 

"Is that so...?" Seifer asked in a highly amused and somewhat pleased voice. Rinoa could just see his smirk. "Well, I think I'll give her a call at the hotel...thanks for the message." 

"No problem," Rinoa said. She paused. "Hey...you saw Squall the other day, right?" 

"Yeah...commander puberty doing okay in the race?" Seifer asked. 

"He dropped down to second...I'm kind of worried." 

"Maybe I shouldn't have hit him so hard..." Seifer mumbled. Rinoa's eyes went wide and her hand tightened around the phone. 

"What do you mean you hit him!? Seifer, did you hit Squall!? WHERE!?" Rinoa growled, almost demonically. Seifer held the phone a few inches from his ear as she yelled at him. 

"I hit him for...you know..." Seifer trailed off. He didn't know how to tell her. "What he did..." 

Rinoa's anger melted away and she closed her eyes. She had good friends...violent friends, but good friends none the less. She exhaled lightly. "Thanks..." 

Seifer smirked on the other line. "Does that mean I can hit him again?" he asked, obviously teasing her. 

Rinoa felt her anger bubble a bit, but quickly die down. "NO, you may not!" she retorted. "Ugh! Bye, Seifer!" 

"Goodnight!" He hung up the phone and Rinoa suspected that he would immediately go and call Quistis. 

Back in his flat, Seifer put the bowl he was eating from in the sink and filled it with water. He figured that Raijin, being the neat freak that he was, would wash it. He walked into the living room where Fujin was laying across the couch on her stomach, reading a thick looking book. 

Originally, they were going to stay in the hotel with the others, however they found it too expensive and opted to stay in Seifer's half empty flat for free instead. "Leaving?" Fujin asked, without taking her eye off the book she was reading. 

"I'm going to see Quisty," Seifer said as he grabbed his white jacket from the closet where it was hung. "You didn't tell her where I went, did you?" 

"Photo shoot," Fujin replied. "With Irvine." 

"Cool, thanks," Seifer said. "RAIJIN!" he shouted. "I'm off!" 

"Not here," Fujin said. She flipped a page in the book and kept her eyes narrowed. "Went clubbing." 

"Clubbing!?" Seifer stopped. He walked back into the living room from the entry way. "With who?" 

"Zell." 

"Chicken-wuss?" Seifer grumbled. "What kind of fun is that!? Why didn't you tell me, Fujin?" 

"Busy reading." 

"Thanks a lot..." The blond headed towards the door. *Quisty, your knight is coming!* 

* * *

"Squall..." her voice whispered in his ear and his heart began to pound in his chest. "Squall..." A smile tugged at his lips. "Wake up, Squall..." 

*Rinoa...* 

"SQUALL!! I'm not telling you again!" a voice shouted. "GET UP!" 

The brunette opened his eyes wide at the sound of Rinoa's sweet voice being replaced by an annoyed one. He shot up in bed and winced as pain cut through his body. It had merely been a day and his bruises were far from healing. He was still wearing the brace. 

Zidane was looming by the screen, a frown on his face. "Tifa says get up already, man!" he said. "You're supposed to leave in a hour!" 

"And you still have to get dressed and EAT!" Tifa shouted from behind the screen. Grumbling, Squall sat up. 

"Squall, don't forget to put your brace on," Cloud called from the garage area. "And have you been loosening it?" 

"No!" Squall shouted as he sat up in bed and glared down at the device around his mid section. *Just a little...* 

"Well, hurry up and get dressed! Then get over here so I can check!" Tifa added. Squall mentally swore. Every day before his race since he got the brace, Tifa would make sure that it was on correctly before he left, fearing that he would purposely loosen it and therefore hurt himself. 

The young racer began to put on his suit. Slowly, he stretched his body just enough to avoid the pain around his mid section. The doctor had told him not to over do it, otherwise he wouldn't make it to the end of the race in once piece. However, the doctor didn't know what was riding on it for Squall. 

With his suit half off and clumped around his waist and a white undershirt on, he walked out. His breakfast was waiting for him and he hurriedly ate as the other four members of the team rushed around him. 

"Squall," Cloud said as he sat down in front of his protege. "It's just one more day...don't over do yourself." 

"I'm still twenty minutes behind Sephiroth," Squall said as he swallowed the last of his eggs. "I need to catch up." 

"Don't pull anything stupid," the older blond reminded him. "I'd rather you get to the finish line tonight safe than dead." 

"I'll be at that finish line AND win." Squall insisted confidently. 

"You don't have to win." 

"You don't understand why I have to." Squall stated simply. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and stood up. 

"Done?" Tifa asked as she rushed to his side. "Let me check the brace." 

Squall stood there with his arms lifted at his sides as she looked over the brace. She made sure that it was on tight enough and nodded. She patted his shoulder, a sign that he could pull up the rest of his suit. As he did, Cloud looked over at Tifa worriedly, as if knowing that Squall would just try to do something stupid. Tifa just shook her head in an attempt to get him to dismiss the thought. 

"Squall, you're almost up!" Tidus called from outside. The blue eyed brunette nodded. 

"I'll be right there!" he shouted. He zipped up his suit and tugged on his gloves. Zidane handed him his helmet and he and Cloud walked to his bike. 

Cloud patted his bike. "Good luck." 

The motorcycle sounded and Squall nodded. Tifa gave him a thumbs up and watched as he rolled out of their garage. She closed her eyes and shook her head as he headed for the finish line. 

"Worried?" Cloud asked. Tifa nodded and walked over to him. He put his arms around her as she buried her face in his shoulder. 

"What if he tries to do something stupid?" Tifa whispered nervously. 

"Why do you think he'll do that?" Cloud asked as he looked past her head and stared out at the line where Zidane and Tidus were standing. The flag was dropped and Squall took off. 

"Men do really stupid things when they're in love," Tifa said softly. She turned her head and watched Squall leave them in the dust. "You of all people should know that." 

* * *

"So...are you going tonight?" General Caraway asked as he sat at breakfast with Rinoa. They were sitting out on the patio under a large umbrella eating eggs benedict. 

Rinoa breathed in sharply, but slowly nodded. "Yes, I am." 

"I shall have Auron drop you and your friends off then," Caraway told her casually. Rinoa looked at him reluctantly and suspiciously. The man noticed his daughter's warily look and let out a light chuckle. "You don't believe me." 

"You know it's hard to," Rinoa replied coolly. She took a drink of her tea and looked at him once more. "Why are you allowing me to see him all of a sudden?" 

"You always do the opposite of what I say," Caraway replied as he put some creme in his coffee. "I assume that if I tell you to be with him, you'll break your involvement with him." 

Rinoa rolled her eyes. "It's not that simple, father." 

"Nothing is ever that simple," Caraway answered. He took a drink of his coffee. "I see that the boy is not going to leave you any time soon. I'd rather not have to deal with any more out bursts from you about this whole issue, therefore, it's in my best interest for you to see him." 

"Your best interest?" Rinoa asked, in a disdainful voice. 

"Yes," her father told her. He looked up at her and gave a sly smile. "You're happy. When you're happy, you're nicer to me. I like it when my little girl is happy and nice to me." 

Rinoa narrowed her eyes. "What's up your sleeve, dad?" she asked with a smirk of her own. 

"Nothing!" he insisted. "You're just easier to deal with when you're happy. Just like your mother." 

"If anything happens to him..." she began. 

"Nothing is going to happen to him," Caraway sighed. "Really, Rinoa, can't you take a good deed as a good deed?" 

"You tried to have him killed." 

"If I was REALLY sure that I wanted him dead, I wouldn't have sent Irvine, would I?" Caraway asked. "While he is the best, he's not the most reliable assassin. He's not a trained killer, you know." 

"Are you saying that you KNEW that Irvine wouldn't kill Squall!?" Rinoa gasped. "Is this some sort of cruel joke on all of us!?" 

"No, it is not," Caraway said as he put his mug down. "Truth be told, I don't know why I sent Irvine of all people...maybe I didn't really want to have Squall killed." 

"But you still hate him." 

"And that might never change," Caraway shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, he'll never be good enough for you. I don't care if he is a commander at Balamb Garden. He could be headmaster for all I care, and I still would not approve." 

"That's not going to stop us..." Rinoa trailed off. 

"Do you plan to marry the foolish boy?" Caraway asked. Rinoa, who had been finishing off the rest of her tea, began to choke. 

She put the cup down and turned to look at her father with large, shocked eyes. "WHAT!?" she gasped. 

"I'm assuming you have thought that far ahead," her father replied. "Do you plan to marry him?" 

"I'm seventeen-" 

"And yet you've disobeyed your father and had an elaborate system to keep your romance afloat, behind my back, for this man. Therefore you must be planning some sort of future with him." 

Rinoa felt her entire face turn red as she stared at her father in shock. "But you don't even like him!" 

"Nor will I ever. Answer the question." 

"You don't like him, but you want me to marry him-" 

"No, I want you to break up with him, finish school, and find a better man, preferably not in any way related to Laguna Loire." 

Rinoa frowned. "Well, if THAT'S the case, I wouldn't mind marrying Squall. As a matter of fact, when he asks, I will say yes without hesitation." 

"What if he never asks?" 

"Then I'll ask and he'll say yes." The father and daughter stared at each other intensely for a long time. That was the way Auron found them. He looked from the uniform clad general to the jeans and sweater wearing general's daughter. He lifted his hand to his mouth and let out a cough to make sure they knew he was standing there by the door way. 

"Yes, Auron, we know you're there," Caraway said. "Rinny and her friends are going to the Speedway today for the end of the race. Please take the limo with them." 

"Yes, general." 

"And Rinoa," the General said as he looked at his daughter once more. "I WILL uphold the bargain that Squall and myself agreed upon before the start." 

"Then for my sake, he'll win." Rinoa said. She stood up and headed into the mansion. 

* * *

"WOW!!" Selphie gasped as she and Zell began to push all the buttons they could find on the limo. "Oh, it's opening up the sunroof!" 

"Zell! Stick your head out!" Irvine urged. 

"Yeah! Do it!" Selphie piped out in agreement. Right above then in the Caraway stretch limo, a tinted piece of black glass opened and Rinoa laughed. 

She was sitting next to Auron and Fujin on the left side of the limo, across from Seifer, Quistis, and Zell. Irvine and Selphie were sitting on the back seat. Raijin had gotten food poisoning from Fujin's experimental chicken dish and was back at Seifer's flat. 

Zell stood up and grabbed hold of the top of the limo. He smirked and put his hands on either side of the sun roof's edge and stood up on the seat between Irvine and Selphie. Laughing he, stuck his head out and let out a holler. 

"I'm surprised Selphie isn't doing it, too." Quistis laughed. 

Before she had even finished her sentence, Selphie was already standing on the chair, laughing as she and Zell waved at pedestrians as the limo rolled by. "Whoo!! Feel that wind! Quisty, you have to try this!" 

"No, it's all right!" Quistis insisted shyly. Seifer had his arm around her shoulder casually. 

"Rin, you want to join us!?" Zell shouted from the top. 

"No, I've done it before," Rinoa chuckled. "Hey, do you see the Speedway!?" 

"Yeah! It's coming up!" Selphie yelled. "Oh, man! There's traffic!" 

"It's just a bottle neck, it'll clear up." Irvine assured them. 

"All right, you two, get down!" Quistis sighed. "When the limo stops, I don't want you to flying out of the sun roof." 

"Speak for yourself, Quisty..." Seifer mumbled snidely. Quistis elbowed him. 

"Squall said he might make it a day early if he gets here before a certain time," Selphie said as she sat down on the seat next to Irvine. Zell hesitantly returned to his own seat and watched as Irvine closed the sun roof. Selphie looked at her watch. "So if he gets there by eight, he's considered to get here and entire racing day early!" 

"Has that been done before?" Rinoa asked. 

"Just a few times...but they've all been close," Irvine answered. "Like by a minute or two." 

"Wow..." 

"I hope he wins..." Rinoa mumbled nervously. She began to play with her hands on her lap. "Auron, turn on the television," Rinoa said. "I want to see if there is anything on the news about the race." 

The body guard nodded and flipped on a button. A screen rose up and Zell and Selphie let out gasps of surprise as they were heavily impressed. Seifer rolled his eyes. On the screen, a man with bright orange hair appeared in a box in the corner of the screen as a map of the last leg of the race was shown. 

"With a few hours to go, the race leaders of Sephiroth and Leonhart are fast approaching the finish line, ya. Sephiroth is in the lead with Leonhart a mere five minutes behind him, ya. However, five minutes is a large gap and if Leonhart wants to win, he must catch up, ya!" 

"At least he's catching up," Zell said. "Hey, how big is a five minute difference?" 

"Big, Zell," Irvine said with a heavy sigh. "VERY big." 

"Will he even make it!?" Selphie gasped, her large green eyes looking anxious. 

"He's got to make it," Quistis said with a thoughtful frown. "He's worked so hard on this..." 

"They all have Quisty," Seifer added. "Everyone's got something riding on this. Something big." 

"What does Squall have riding on it?" Selphie asked. Seifer, Irvine, and Rinoa all went silent. They focused their eyes on the screen. "Guys? Guys!?" 

Irvine looked over at Rinoa, as if asking for permission to tell the others. The brown eyed brunette slowly lifted her head and nodded. Irvine let out a heavy sigh. "If Squall wins, Caraway has to let Rinoa be with whoever she wants..." 

"And..." Zell took a deep breath before he reluctantly continued. "If he doesn't?" 

"He'll stay away from Rinoa." Seifer replied. 

"Who made a stupid deal like that!?" Selphie exclaimed loudly. "Hyne! Does he know what he's asking for!?" 

"We can't do anything about it now," Seifer snapped. "Just sit down. We'll be at the track in a few moments." 

"How much longer?" Zell asked impatiently. 

Rinoa looked at her watch. "If he makes it before eight...we have an hour," She pressed a button on the window sill behind her and watched as the television disappeared. "I just want to be there when he arrives." 

* * *

The roar of the engine echoed in his ears as he straddled the sleek machine. He could feel the dusty dirt path under him as he slowly neared the cloud of dust rushing before him. That was his target; Sephiroth. He had to catch up if he wanted to win. 

Looking at his watch, he mentally swore. He had a mere hour left if he wanted to make it in thirteen days rather and fourteen. He looked up and through his tinted visor of his helmet, he could see the lights of Deling City up ahead. They were blocking out stars right above the city. Rinoa was there under those stars, just waiting for him. 

He tightened his hold on the motorcycle and raced ahead. They would reach the asphalt road that lead into the city in a matter of minutes, then go around the perimeter of Deling City before heading straight for the Speedway. His heart was racing and he struggled to keep it calm. The last thing he wanted to panic in the last minute and mess up. 

Up ahead, he could see the race officials preparing the signs that would lead them into the city. Blinking arrows pointed to the asphalt road that had been cleared of traffic for that monumental event. Officials with lighted batons pointed them in the correct direction and Squall saw Sephiroth and his black motorcycle make the turn on to the asphalt road. 

*I need to get on that thing...the sooner I'm on that thing, the sooner I can speed up...* As soon as he thought that, he heard Tifa and the doctor's warnings. He was not to pull anything that could jeopardize his health. He narrowed his eyes and decided to disregard them. He was wearing the brace, after all. 

"This way! This way!" someone was shouting. He followed the directions given to him and tugged up his bike. Within a nano-second he was on the asphalt path. He could see is only true competitor up ahead of him, racing further and further ahead. 

*I won't loose...I CAN'T loose.* 

* * *

"Whoo-hoo! VIP!" Zell said as he sat down in the VIP room that they were assigned in. "I've never been in one of these before." 

"That's because you're not a very important person, chicken-wuss." Seifer replied casually as he sat on one of the couches. Quistis walked over to the balcony area that over looked the speedway's track. 

"Oh my...the place is packed!" she gasped. She removed her glasses and rubbed the lenses in disbelief before putting them back on. 

"It's going to be like that until tomorrow." Irvine said as he headed for the bar. 

"So they'll be here all night?" Selphie added as she walked towards the balcony area with Rinoa. 

"Yep," Irvine said. "Does anyone want anything to drink?" 

"Just a beer," Seifer shouted. "Whatever is fine." 

Irvine nodded and searched the bar for a bottle of beer. He grabbed the first one he saw and popped the cap before Seifer came over and got it. "This is a pretty big room..." Rinoa said as she looked around quietly. "Usually, several people get assigned a VIP room like this-" 

"This is it! This is it!" a voice shouted from outside the door. The group turned their heads towards the double wooden doors that lead to the hallway outside. 

"Then open the door!" someone exclaimed tiredly. The doors burst open and in rushed a tall man with long brown hair tied at his nape. He looked around energetically. 

Zell nearly coughed up the hotdog he had been eating as they recognized who the man was. "President Loire!" Quistis gasped in shock. 

"Sir Laguna!" Selphie added cheerfully. "You must be here to cheer on Squall!" She bounced over to the man who shook her hand energetically. 

*I wonder if Selphie is Laguna's long lost daughter...* half the room thought. 

"You know Squall?" Laguna asked. "I'm his father!" 

"We know, we've read about it in the news during the elections." Seifer snorted as he drank his beer. 

"So I guess we're all sharing a room, then?" a female voice asked. Everyone turned to see a young woman with shoulder length brown hair walk in front of a tall skinny black man and a large stoic looking man. 

"Ellone!" Quistis said with a smile. "You're here, too?" 

"We all came," Ellone said. She looked over at Rinoa, who was slowly approaching them. "My name is Ellone, Squall's mother was my aunt. This is my Uncle Laguna, Kiros, and Ward." 

"Oh!" Rinoa gasped. She blushed slightly and extended her hand. "I'm Rinoa Heartilly-" 

"Did you know you look just like that singer, Rinoa Caraway?" Laguna said, in a sort of shock as he shook her hand. He studied her wondrously, as if absolutely amazed that she looked like herself. Everyone stared at him in disbelief. 

"Um...I am Rinoa Caraway," Rinoa began sheepishly. "I just usually use my mother's maiden name-" 

"You know, there was a singer-" 

"Julia Heartilly," Rinoa sighed. "She was my mother." 

"I knew it! I knew it!" Laguna said enthusiastically. He shook Rinoa's hand wildly before capturing her in a tight hug. "You look just like Julia! Tell me," he said as he let her go and held her hands. "How do you know my son?" 

Rinoa opened her mouth to answer, but find she didn't know how exactly to explain it. She looked at the others for help and found them all diverting their eyes. *Jeez, guys...thanks...* she thought to herself. She looked back at Laguna and gave him a warm smile. "Well, sir..." she began. "Your son...um... Squall...he's my...uh..." 

"Boyfriend." Selphie coughed. 

"Lover." Irvine added with another cough. 

"Significant other." Quistis added. Rinoa whirled around to glare at them and Laguna let out a happy yell. 

"So you're his girlfriend then?" Laguna asked cheerfully. "Nice to meet you!" 

Rinoa turned back to the man and smiled weakly. *He's not nearly as threatening as I thought he would be...if anything, he's the opposite of threatening. Did this man really seal away Adel? It's kind of hard to believe.* 

"Hey, Rinoa," Irvine said suddenly. Rinoa turned around and pointed to the pit area below the glass. "Squall's pit crew is there..." 

"Maybe Tifa will let me wait for him there," Rinoa said. "I'm going to go down to the pit." 

"I'll come with you." Auron insisted. He hadn't moved from his place by the door. 

"I'll be okay, Auron!" Rinoa exclaimed tiredly. 

"I insist." 

"Fine, fine..." she sighed and looked back at Laguna. "Mr. President, Miss Ellone, Mr. Ward, Mr. Kiros, it was a pleasure meeting you. Perhaps we can meet up another time?" 

"Of course, Rinoa," Laguna said warmly. "You and Squall MUST have dinner with us one time." 

"It would be a pleasure, sir," Rinoa added. She looked at the others. "I'll see you guys later!" Rinoa quickly ran out the door with Auron behind her. Zell turned on the television that nearly took up half of the wall across from him. 

Coverage of the race was on and a helicopter was recording the final duel between the two leaders of the race. Wakka, the correspondent, was reporting that Squall was just a minute behind Sephiroth and at that moment, anything was possible. 

* * *

The city streets were lined with observers who cheered on Squall and Sephiroth as they zoomed past them. They became nothing more than a mere blur to him as he raced by. Two things occupied his mind. One of which was to get ahead of Sephiroth. The other was Rinoa. He was so close, he refused to let her down. 

The sound of cheering and encouragement, the roar of the machine he sat on all vanished. He was riding in a pit of silence with his eyes set on the road before him. Up ahead was the Deling City Speedway. It's search lights were flying across the night sky as a glow poured out from it's open crevices. He gripped the handles of his bike and sped up. 

He lifted his motorcycle to it's back wheel before he reached a corner. He was practically hugging the side walk as fans screamed with excitement. With every corner they were in, Squall hugged the inside better than Sephiroth and was catching up. 

All he could hear was the beating of his heart. Sweat was cold against his skin as his blue eyes focused on the race before him. There was nothing but a long concrete path to the entrance of the speedway. Once there, they would make one lap and the one who crossed the finish line first would win. 

* * *

"Tifa!" Rinoa shouted. The woman with the long brown hair turned and smiled. 

"Hey!" she said. "Come to see your man in action?" she asked with a wink and a smirk. Rinoa blushed and nodded slightly. 

"I was wondering...you know..." Rinoa took a deep breath, unsure of how to ask. "If I could...um..." 

Tifa merely laughed and nodded. "C'mon in. Let me grab you a chair!" she said with a warm smile. She lead Rinoa and Auron into the pit area. "Whose the big guy?" 

"Bodyguard." 

"I see..." Tifa said. They entered and she looked over at them. "Tribal! Get your butt off the chair and let the lady have a seat!" 

"Get your own seat!" Zidane snapped. Tifa narrowed her eyes and cracked her knuckles, sending Zidane scurrying out of his seat. 

"Men are such weaklings..." Tifa chuckled. She took his chair and moved it closer to Rinoa. "Here you go, honey. Have a seat." 

"Thank you!" Rinoa smiled as she sat down. 

"They're coming! They're coming!" a voice shouted. A tan blond rushed into the room, smiling from ear to ear. "They're - AH! Auron!" 

"Tidus." the man in the sunglasses said. 

"You know each other?" Rinoa asked. 

"Not now," said the short blond man who walked in. His hair was spiked up and all over the place. "They'll be coming through that opening." He pointed to the side and Rinoa watched as two machines flew in. 

Her eyes went wide as she shot out from her hair. They were making their way around the massive track as the crowds burst into loud cheers. Rinoa rushed forward and watched as Squall hugged the inside track. 

"They're right behind each other!" Zidane shouted. "Man, this is going to be close!" 

"Come on...come on..." Rinoa found herself whispering. They were almost side by side, two men intent on just winning. 

Rinoa's heart stopped in her chest as in the last straight way, Squall brought his bike up once more and shot forward. The orange on black timer at the top of the stadium blinked the final time and the crowds cheered. 

"It's seven fifty three," Tifa said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "He won." 

* * *

Up in the VIP booth, Zell and Selphie were jumping up and down as they hugged and screamed excitedly. Quistis clapped and hugged the person closest to her - Seifer. The blond was surprised, but hugged back as if he had been expecting it. Fujin let out the breath she was holding as Irvine let out a loud holler. 

Laguna was jumping up and down, shouting just as loudly as Zell and Selphie as he hugged Ellone, Ward, and Kiros. "He won! He won! My son WON!!" 

"Let's get down there and meet him!" Selphie shouted to the group. 

"Yeah!!" 

* * *

The fireworks exploded around them and the official times blinked on the score boards, Rinoa felt her breathing growing shallow. He had won. Tears rimmed her eyes as she found herself being pushed towards the out side of the track where Squall was rolling in. Fans were cheering his name as the black and blue bike slowly came to a stop in front of them. 

Cloud and the rest of the team rushed forward to get the bike and help him off. Cloud took the bike as Tifa attempted to help the brunette off the motorcycle. Rinoa was five yards away, her hand clutching her the rings hanging from her necklace. Her heart was racing madly as she took a step forward. 

As soon as he pulled into the sides, the first thing his blue eyes settled on was her. His gaze never left hers as the others ran to assist him. Squall mindlessly brushed them away as he got off the bike. He suddenly found that his legs were weak as he stood up. Tidus and Zidane were about to help him when he held his hand up to stop them. 

With dirt stained gloved hands, he removed his helmet roughly and tossed it to Zidane. His hair was dark and matted with sweat against his head. He looked tired, but at the same time glowing with life. Rinoa's lower lip trembled as she ran forward. 

"SQUALL!" 

Her body was quickly enveloped in his embrace as he swept her up. His head pressed against hers as strong arms held her fragile frame protectively. She inhaled his strong scent and relished the feeling of his warm body against her. One gloved hand soothed the back of her head as she choked out joyous sobs against his shoulder. 

"I'm back..." he whispered softly. 

Rinoa slowly pulled away from him, her eyes rimmed with tears. Something was tugging at her senses. Something was wrong. Squall offered her a slightly smile. Suddenly, pain shot across his handsome face and Rinoa's eyes went wide. 

"Squall...?" she asked. His body tensed up and he lowered his head. He began to cough and his body went limp against. "Squall!?" she gasped out. "Squall!? What's wrong!?" she nearly screamed. She fell to her knees with him leaning heavily against her. 

"What's going-" Tifa began, but her eyes went wide. Squall lifted his hand from his mouth and her eyes went wide. "CALL AN AMBULANCE!!" 

Rinoa's brown eyes went wide as she held the shaking man against her. Squall stared dumbfoundedly at his hand as blood filled spit and bile graced his dark gloves. "Squall!?" Her tearful voice could barely be heard and he looked up at her. Panic and fear were written all over her face. Her mouth opened and seemed to be making out his name, but he heard nothing. 

She was getting darker and his own eyes went wide with panic. He couldn't feel her arms around him any more. It was getting darker. Colder. And then...nothing. 


	16. Waiting At The Finish Line

**Watching You**  
_Chapter Sixteen: Waiting At The Finish Line_  
By PasifikStar

**Author's Note:** Going with my whole Utada Hikaru song theme here, please listen to "First Love" for the final scene. ^_^ For those who are not content with the end, I'm sorry, but all stories must have an ending. I hope you enjoyed this story! 

**Dedication:** To my sweet reviewers. For your never ending encouragement and threats to continue or else, thank you. :) I'm happy you enjoyed the story. 

* All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters. 

* * *

"Squall!" Rinoa shouted. Her eyes were wide as saucers as the sirens sounded around her. Tifa and Cloud were rushing around, clearing the space for the paramedics to come through and reach the young man's limp body. "Squall, wake up!" 

Through the commotion, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, Zell, Seifer, and Fujin arrived with Laguna and Ellone in tow. Seifer let out a swear as he saw Rinoa holding the body close to her, her eyes unblinking as she looked down at the unconscious man. 

"What happened!?" Quistis gasped. 

"Squall!" Laguna screeched. "Let me through! I'm his FATHER!!" 

"Sir! Sir! Let the paramedics, get to him!" Selphie insisted. Zell and Seifer automatically went to hold back the frantic parent as Ellone tried to make her way through the crowd. 

Irvine squeezed through the crowd and managed to make his way towards Rinoa. The girl's pale hands were clamped around Squall's unmoving shoulders. "Rinoa, let go-" 

"Why isn't he waking up?" Rinoa gasped. "What's wrong with him!?" she said. Her eyes turned to Irvine and the cowboy felt himself pull back a bit. Rinoa's eyes were flashing colored light. 

"Rinoa, you have to let him go!" a voice said behind her. "The paramedics need to bring Squall to the hospital!" 

"No! Why isn't he awake!? What happened to him!?" Rinoa insisted. Pain was written all over her face as her body shook. 

Irvine grabbed her by the shoulders. "Rin...Rin look at me. LOOK at me, Rinoa!" he ordered. the fear struck female turned her eyes up to his. "You have to let Squall go so he can get better." 

"Better?" she asked numbly. 

Irvine nodded. "The sooner you let him go, the sooner they can help him," he told the singer. Rinoa nodded and immediately let the racer go. The paramedics swooped in and pulled Squall from where he was resting against Rinoa to a stretcher. They quickly brought him into the awaiting ambulance. 

"Wait, I want to go with him!" Rinoa gasped as she realized he was no longer against her. She turned her body and Irvine grabbed on to her. "NO! Irvine let go! I want to be with Squall!" 

"We'll follow in the limo!" Irvine insisted. "Seifer! Bring the limo around-" 

"Auron already went to get it!" Seifer shouted before the order was completed. "Rinoa," he said as he knelt down next to the crumbled girl. "Rinoa, calm down, okay?" 

"What's going on...?" Rinoa whispered quietly. She began to breath in shallow gasps as her body began to sweat. Her heart started to race and she turned panic stricken eyes at Seifer and Irvine. "Where are they taking him." she stated, rather than asked. 

"To get him help," Irvine assured her. "Rinoa...?" 

Her breath was growing shallower. She looked down and saw the spot of blood that had been left after Squall coughed. Her hands began to shake furiously. "Rinoa?" she heard someone calling behind her. "Rinoa, he'll be all right." 

Hands were on her back and shoulders, gently rubbing and patting her in hopes to calming her down. She looked around her at the sea of concerned faces. She saw Squall's father ordering his limo to be bring them to the hospital while Squall's 'Sis' was in tears. Irvine and Seifer were yelling at each other, both concerned as to what to do with Rinoa. 

Irvine wanted to take her to the hospital. Seifer wanted to take her home. Quistis was calling the Garden to tell Cid what was going on. Selphie was desperately trying to calm her down. Fujin was keeping Seifer from punching Irvine. Zell had gone to fetch Kiros and Ward for Laguna. 

"...to the hospital!" Selphie's words cut through her head and she looked directly at her. 

"Take me to Squall!" she insisted. 

Selphie looked at the others, unsure whether or not to agree to it or not. "Rin-" 

"Take me to him!" Rinoa pleaded, almost desperately. "I need to be there for him!" 

"Limo's here!" Fujin shouted. 

Irvine shot on final glare at Seifer. "We're taking her there." 

"What if something HAPPENS?" the blond hissed back. 

"Do you want to tell her no!?" Irvine snapped. "She won't last if she's away from Squall when they're like this!" 

"Seifer, he's right," Quistis told him. She shoved her phone back into her pocket and knelt down. "Come on, Rinoa. Let's go see Squall." 

Nodding, the young brunette allowed herself to be picked up. Quistis helped her into a standing position before Irvine swept her up in his arms. Selphie was waiting by the limo, which had rolled up on the track. 

"There are some pillows ready inside!" Selphie said. She followed Irvine and Rinoa into the black stretch. 

"I have to call Caraway," Seifer said. "We'll meet you at the hospital." 

"Right!" Quistis said as she rushed in after the other three. The door closed and Fujin handed Seifer a small black phone. He dialed the numbers that he had memorized and listen impatiently as a maid answered. 

"Hel-" 

"Let me speak to Caraway immediately!" Seifer snapped. 

"I'm sorry, sir, the General has stepped out-" 

"Out!? Out where!?" Seifer demanded. 

"He was watching the G-14 on television and then rushed out immediately-" 

"Where did he GO!?" 

"I don't know-" before she could finished, Seifer hung up. He looked at the white haired woman. 

"Fujin, get us a taxi!" 

* * *

Selphie placed a damp cloth on Rinoa's forehead as the limo rushed to the hospital. Rinoa was laying side ways on the limo's seat, her head on Irvine's lap. Quistis was on the phone with the hospital, trying to see if Squall had arrived. 

"Rinoa...?" Selphie whispered softly. The young singer's eyes were glazed over as she stared ahead of her. "Rinoa...are you okay?" 

Rinoa didn't answer. She just laid there, staring blankly ahead of her. Fearfully, the green eyed brunette looked up at Irvine. He looked at her and shook his head. "Rin has a hard time in this sort of situation..." he began. "When something like this happens, her body shuts down." 

"Shuts down?" Selphie piped. She looked down at Rinoa. 

"When her mother died, Rinoa wouldn't eat. She wouldn't drink. She wouldn't sleep. She would lay on her bed and stare at the ceiling for days..." Irvine admitted. "Her father was worried sick. He was devastated...first his wife, then his daughter. I tried every day to try and cheer her up." 

"What happened?" Selphie asked. 

"I don't know," Irvine mumbled. "One day I came to visit after school and she was sitting there, eating and talking to the maid like nothing had happened. That's when she told me she wanted to sing like her mother." 

"Rinoa seems like such a strong person," Selphie said. "I mean...she defied her father and...everything." 

"She thinks she's going to loose him," Irvine told her in a low voice. Selphie's head shot up and her green eyes grew wider. "She can't handle it." 

"But she's not!" Selphie gasped. "Squall will be fine!" She turned to Quistis, who just hung up her phone. "Right, Quistis? Squall will be fine, won't he?" 

The blond woman closed her eyes and turned her head away. "He's...he's in critical condition right now..." she whispered in a low voice. "No one knows what's going to happen." 

Selphie's mouth opened slightly and she looked back at Rinoa. The girl's expression hadn't changed one bit. Selphie began to wonder if she had even blinked the entire time they had been in the limo. 

"We're arriving at the hospital." Auron stated. 

Quistis looked at the others. "Let's go." 

* * *

The halls were white and lined with white linoleum on the floor. Men and women dressed in scrubs rushed around as people stood, waiting to be seen or waiting to see someone. The bright white lights in the hall only served to make the place seem more sterile and surreal. 

Rinoa couldn't remember anything else. The door had opened and Auron and Irvine helped her stand up. Just as they arrived at the hospital, another limo pulled up and out tumbled Laguna. Ellone stopped to help him out before they ran into the emergency room. 

Zell had been with them and ran over to the others as they came out of the limo, Rinoa being the last to come out. The young woman's face was blank of all expression as Selphie took her hand and lead her into the room. Quistis had gone in first to find out where Squall was and what his condition was like. 

By the time they entered the lobby, Quistis had been told and walked towards them. Selphie made sure Rinoa was sitting when Quistis approached. "What's the news?" Selphie asked. 

"Still in surgery," Quistis said. "They don't know yet." 

"What's wrong with him?" Zell asked as he sat down next to Irvine. 

Quistis let out a heavy sigh. "Apparently, Squall has internal bleeding right now. I don't know what caused it." 

"I do," a voice said behind her. Quistis turned around and saw a young man with shirt blond hair, cut straight above his shoulders approach. "I'm Zidane Tribal, I'm on Squall's pit crew." 

"Do you know what happened to Squall?" Selphie asked. Zidane nodded and Rinoa slowly looked up. 

"A few days ago, Squall was in an accident and slid down a hill. He had a pretty bad fall, but the doctor said he could still race, providing that he wore a brace," Zidane explained. "He wore it, but keep loosening it. And against orders, he performed some stunts that would have aggravated his mid section worse." 

"So he could win?" Zell asked, his eyes wide. 

Zidane nodded. "He said something the other day...something about having to win. I don't know what he had riding on it, but it drove him to go against the doctor's orders." 

"So the stunts and the loosened brace caused the internal bleeding?" Quistis clarified. 

"As far as we know yes," another voice said. "Zidane, go back to the track and help Tidus clean up." 

"Yes, Cloud." The younger blond rushed out of the hospital as Cloud approached the group. 

"I'm Cloud Strife, Squall's...um...mentor, I guess," he mumbled. "We're trying to find out all we can right now." 

"Please try to keep us updated?" Selphie asked. Cloud nodded and walked away. 

"I need to see him," Rinoa whispered. The others strained to hear what she was saying. Rinoa shot up from her chair before Irvine could stop her. "I need to see him!" 

With that, she took off into the hallway. "Rinoa!" Irvine shouted. 

"Rinoa, stop!" Quistis gasped. Rinoa ran past some nurses, nearly sending them colliding with the walls. 

Zell and Irvine were already after her, with Selphie and Quistis at their heels. They were yelling at her to stop and she rounded a corner without even slowing her pace or sliding. "Rinoa!" 

"Rinoa!" Their foot steps echoed in the halls as nurses yelled for them not to run. They paid no attention to the yelling nurses as they went around the corner. Irvine slid to a stop as he saw what was in front of him. Zell almost ran into Irvine and Selphie and Quistis slid to a stop behind Zell. 

There was a large glass window and Laguna and Ellone were standing in front of it. Their eyes were focused through the glass. Rinoa had stopped running and stood next to them, her eyes also looking through the glass. The others followed their gazes with silence. 

Squall laid on a table, doctors and nurses hovering over him as bright lights shone on his naked body. His clothes had been stripped off and sheets covered some parts of his still flesh. Blood was on the doctor's gloves and scrubs. The nurses were rushing back and forth with precision. Rinoa's eyes studied the face of the man she had been holding in her arms not even thirty minutes ago. 

"Squall...?" she whispered softly. Her right hand rose slowly. It shook slightly as it touched the cold glass that separated them. "I'm sorry..." she whispered tearfully. 

It was when the clear streams were sliding down her soft cheeks that the others noticed that she hadn't cried. She had looked close to tears, but she hadn't shed one yet. Until that moment. "Rinoa..." Selphie whispered. 

Her breathing was growing shallower and more strained. "Zell, go get a doctor," Irvine said. Rinoa placed her hands on the glass. Zell looked at Irvine, confused. "GET ONE NOW!" Irvine shouted. 

"It's MY FAULT!" Rinoa suddenly screamed. The entire hallway turned to look at her as she clawed at the glass. 

Behind it, the nurses and doctors ignored her to focus on their patient. "Rinoa, calm down!" Irvine said as he rushed her. 

Rinoa felt his arms go around her and she struggled against him. "It's my fault!" she kept screaming frantically. "He forced himself to win because of me! It's MY fault he's in there! It's MY fault!" 

"Zell, don't just stand there! Get a doctor!" Quistis barked. The blond man nodded, still shaken by the singer's sudden outburst. He turned and stumbled as he rushed towards the lobby. 

"Rinoa! Stop it! Stop!" Irvine pleaded as he held her arms tightly against her as his arms enclosed her. She was shaking and struggling and her head was turning from side to side wildly. 

"Rinoa, stop! Please stop!" Selphie begged. 

"No!" Rinoa shrieked. "SQUALL!!" 

The green line that had been reaching peaks and valleys on a black screen suddenly went flat. Rinoa's eyes went wide, as if she had been looking at it the whole time. Laguna began to freak out and started yelling and Ellone burst into tears, sobbing insanely. Rinoa's body went still. 

Irvine looked down at her. Her eyes flickered with lightly and he swore. 

"AH!" A scream was heard down the hall way and the others turned their heads. The sounds of light bulbs popping echoed in the hall ways as nurses and by standers shielded themselves from the glass that flew from the light fixtures as the bulbs exploded. From both the left and the right side, the series of exploding lights approached. 

"What's going on!?" Selphie shouted as she covered her head and looked around. 

"Laguna!" a voice shouted from the lobby. Kiros and Ward were rushing out. "Laguna! A sorceress is in the building!" 

"WHAT!?" Laguna growled. 

Irvine's eyes went wide and he looked at Rinoa. The girl's eyes were still flashing different colors. People were yelling all around them. Nurses were running around trying to calm the people. 

"Where the sorceress!?" Ellone gasped in horror. 

"No! Squall!" Laguna gasped, realizing the danger that Squall was suddenly in. 

Irvine looked down at Rinoa, her body was shaking. Her skin was starting to grow extremely hot as magic energy flowed the surface, ready to burst out. Her eyes told him that she had lost consciousness and that the only reason she was standing there know was pent up energy. He had to get her out of there. 

For Rinoa, there was nothing. From her eyes, she could see the darkness of the hall as the emergency lights were turned on. Nurses and aids with flash lights ran around her. Inside the operation room where Squall's body laid, was dark. The doctors and nurses seemed to be at a loss. 

*Squall...* Her heart beat for him. Her hand touched the glass once more and she willed it to move. Irvine prayed that the darkness could last a little longer as he realized that Rinoa was at a whole other level. He was forced to take his hands off of her after her body put out an incredible about to heat that he could feel through is clothes. 

The lights were slowly being replaced around them. Rinoa narrowed her eyes as the glass seemed to turn into liquid before her. Her slim fingers slipped through the glass as she took a step forward. Squall was so close. Irvine was looking around wildly, trying to figure out what was going on. 

Rinoa continued to step forward. Her body touched the wall and the glass and as the lights were fixed, Irvine swore. Rinoa walked through the wall. 

"What the!?" Zell gasped as he arrived back with a doctor. 

Irvine stood there, unsure of what to do. The doctors turned and scrambled away as the young woman orated out a pulsating energy. It was so obvious to anyone that saw her what she was. Squall's body was on the operating table in front of her. Blood was all over. 

"Squall!" Laguna cried out, horrified. 

"Rinoa, what are you doing!?" Quistis screamed. They pounded on the glass, trying desperately to get to them, to no avail. 

Rinoa stood over his still body. Her face grew soft and intent as she looked down at him. He'd done so much for her and she had done nothing but cause him trouble. Her heart twisted in her chest as she looked down at his cold lips. The lips she had longed to kiss for days. "I love you..." she whispered tearfully. "If it costs me everything, I'll prove to you how much I love you..." she added. She closed her eyes and held her hands over his body. She concentrated everything thing she had into the one spell she knew would save him. 

* * *

He felt warm all over. As if he were laying on a peaceful green field, allowing the sun to caress his body as he relaxed. His eyes were closed. They felt heavy and tired, but he wanted to open them. He wanted to see his sun. His moon. His stars. His life. Crystalline blue eyes opened beneath long dark brown lashes. 

"Rinoa..." he whispered breathy before the blurs he saw before him. 

"Shh...Squall..." a soft voice whispered intently. "Don't over exert yourself." 

"Rinoa..." he demanded, knowing that wasn't her voice. "Where...?" 

He slowly blinked his eyes, trying to clear the blurs. He couldn't make out of the faces, but he could make out the hair color. "You've been asleep for a month, Squall..." Ellone told him. "Don't force yourself." 

"Where?" he demanded, roughly this time. He narrowed his eyes as best as he could. He was able to make his sister's face to his left. He could see Laguna's worried face to his right side. "Where is she...?" 

"She's...she's not here." Laguna whimpered softly, unsure of how his son would act. 

Squall wanted to grab his father's collared shirt and pull him down to yell at him, but found that his body would not move. "Where is she?" he hissed. 

"Squall, the nurse will becoming with medicine soon-" 

"WHERE is RINOA?" Squall growled. 

"Uncle?" Ellone mumbled, looking across the bed. Laguna's eyes were closed tightly and he shook his head. 

"In Esthar..." Laguna told Squall. Squall's eyes narrowed once again. 

"Why?" 

"Squall, she's a sorceress!" Ellone exclaimed, unsure of how else to put it. 

Squall felt his hands growing into fists at his sides. "I KNOW what she is," he snapped. "I want to see her." 

"Squall, you flat lined," another voice said. Squall turned his head as much as he could, which wasn't a lot. He looked up and saw Quistis standing there. Her glasses were off and she was playing with them in her hands. A nervous action. "When you flat lined, Rinoa snapped." 

"What?" he breathed out. "I flat lined...?" 

"You died, Squall," another voice said. Zell's face seemed to finally come into focus from were he was sitting by the window. He was looking out the window at the lawn. It was bright, sunny day, yet it did nothing for the situation. "You were on the operating table and your heart stopped. Rinoa saw the machine flat line and suddenly, all the lights burst. When they were finally fixed, she...somehow got into your room and was standing over you..." 

"She had these wings, Squall..." Quistis whispered, her eyes glazed over as if she were lost in a memory. "They were soft and coiled against her back. I thought she was the angel of death." 

"She brought me back..." Squall's voice was low and hoarse. His blue eyes narrowed. "Didn't she?" He looked up at them, trying to get an answer. No one would meet his gaze. After moments, he grew impatient. "Tell me the truth!" He shouted angrily. "Did she bring me back!?" 

"Yes, Squall, she did." Ellone finally answered. Squall turned to look at her. 

"Then where is she...?" his heart stopped as he waited for them to answer. It seemed that time had stopped all together. 

"Rinoa Caraway..." Laguna swallowed hard. He closed his eyes and turned his head away from his son, not wanting to see his reaction. "Rinoa Caraway is gone...I'm sorry." 

It was a lie. It had to be a lie. Squall shook his head slowly. "No..." he whispered. "No, she brought me back. She has to be-" 

"She put a lot of her own energy into bringing you back with her magic," Quistis whispered. "As soon as she said it, there was a white light that went over you. No one moved, Squall...we just stood there and watched. And then...Rinoa's wings disappeared. They just faded away...and she fell back wards. Your heart was beating again...and you were alive..." 

"She couldn't have," Squall insisted. His heart was ripping in his chest. "No, she's still alive. I can feel it-" 

"Squall-" Ellone began, but Squall cut her off. 

"Take me to her!" Squall shouted. "Where is she!? Take me to Rinoa!" 

Quistis closed her eyes and rushed out of the room. Squall was speaking just as Rinoa had been moments before he flat lined. Zell ran his hand down his face. "We can't-" 

"Where are we!?" Squall snapped. He looked around the area. 

"We're in a private hospital in Esthar-" Ellone began. 

"Then Rinoa is near!" Squall snapped. "Take me to her! I need to see her-" 

"We can't Squall." Laguna said. 

"Why the hell not!?" Squall shouted. "Don't tell me she's dead! She's not dead! I know she's not! I can FEEL her alive!" 

"Stop it...she's...gone." Zell said. He shook his head and walked out of the room. Squall watched with confusion. 

"Rinoa is at the Sorceress Memorial," Laguna told him. Squall's eyes went wide. He shook his head, but Laguna nodded. "She was loosing control. We had to-" 

"She brought me back to life, you bastard!" Squall growled. Laguna's face flooded with pain at his son's harsh words. "And you have the gall to put her away!?" 

"Squall we had not choice!" Laguna gasped. "We had to seal here away or else the entire public would've been after her!" 

"We didn't put her away because she would hurt people, Squall. We put her away to keep her safe!" Ellone insisted, her hands grabbing one of his as she begged him to understand. 

"Her father! What about General Caraway?" Squall asked. "Didn't he stop you!?" 

"The man disappeared!" Laguna exclaimed. "Right after we got Rinoa, Caraway vanished without a trace!" 

"Irvine? Seifer!?" Squall asked, knowing that they had been close to her. "Fujin? Raijin!?" 

"Gone," Ellone whispered. "Selphie's missing, too." 

"No..." Squall whispered. "No, this can't be right..." 

"I'm sorry, Squall-" 

"Stop saying that!" Squall growled. He glared viciously at his father. "Take me to the Sorceress Memorial." 

"But-" 

"I want to see her," Squall said, his voice deep and angry, but still a desperately plea. "I just... I just want to see Rinoa." 

Ellone and Laguna looked at each other. Laguna nodded and Ellone closed her eyes. "As soon as you're well-" 

"I want to go NOW." Squall demanded in a low voice. 

"Squall, you just woke up-" 

"NOW!" Just as he yelled, two nurses walked in. 

"Mr. Leonhart, we've brought you some medicine." one nurse told him. She lifted up a cup with two pink pills in it and Squall weakly lifted his hand. He wanted to slap the medication away, but was only able to push her hand aside. 

"No..." Squall snapped. "I don't have time for this. I want-" 

"Sir, you have to-" 

"I don't CARE!" Squall growled. "What the hell am I going to live for if she's gone!?" 

"Call the doctor," the first nurse told the second one calmly. "He's over exerting himself and should rest." 

"Mr. Leonhart, we're going to have to sedate you if you do not calm down." the second nurse told him. 

Squall narrowed his eyes and tried to push himself up. He wasn't anywhere near succeeding. The nurse called the doctor and Ellone and Laguna stepped aside. They turned their heads away as Squall yelled and shouted profanities mingled with demands. By the time the doctor stepped away, Squall had fallen back on the bed, asleep once more. 

"Uncle, are you really going to let Squall see Rinoa?" Ellone asked. 

"If I had one more change to see Raine," Laguna mumbled as he sat back down on his chair and looked over his sedated son. "I would go against the world to see her." 

* * *

The building towered above them as the limo stopped before it. The chauffeur opened the door and Laguna walked out, wearing his usual tan khakis and buttoned up shirt. Ellone had opted to stay back at the palace. Squall came out of the limo next. He had grown thinner while he was in a comatose, but his old clothes still fit him. 

His black leather pants and dark leather jacket were around him as his typical white under shirt rested against his skin. He looked up at the tall building. They wouldn't let him out of the hospital for two weeks. He had tried numerous times to run away, all being caught by watchful guards. 

Tifa and Cloud had come to visit him. Tifa was in tears, begging for forgiveness for something that Squall believed she had done nothing to need forgiveness for. He was told about his winning and his rival. 

It seems that in the final moments of the race, Sephiroth had lost a lot of time to do an old wound he had gotten in a fight with Cloud years ago. His reflexes weren't as sharp as they had been in the beginning of the race. Squall had been able to catch up thanks to some added accessories to his motorcycle that the Al Bhed people had put in his bike when he was in the accident. That along with Squall's insane driving lead to his victory. 

"Are you ever going to race again?" Tifa asked softly once day. Squall shook his head. 

"I'll still ride...but no more races." he whispered in reply. He knew that Tifa had wanted to ask about Rinoa. 

While he was stuck in bed, practically hand cuffed to the damn thing, he would watch television. It seemed that there wasn't as much news on Rinoa as there had been while he was asleep, but there was still a lot. It was revealed to the world that she was a sorceress and the beloved pop icon had 'passed on' and was sealed away in Esthar. 

It angered him to find that some people regarded her as a monster, but found some sense of peace when he heard her fans mourn her. They said that they didn't care what she was and that someone who had a heart like Rinoa could never be bad. A few people called her a hero, as she had given up everything to save his life. 

Squall was annoyed at the attention he was getting, but his father's power made it possible for him to be kept away from the public eye and the stalking media. Regardless, Zell still called it a 'media circus'. 

They entered the building and their footsteps echoed in the hard floor. Squall felt cold suddenly as they entered. Laguna led him to the chamber were Rinoa's body was kept as if he knew it all too well. 

"I come here a lot," Laguna admitted as he typed in the code to let them into the room. "I sit here and I talk to her...I tell her how you are. I feel I owe it to her for saving your life." 

"You would've loved her," Squall whispered as the doors opened. He walked in first and stopped just two steps in. His entire body went cold as he laid his eyes on the small chamber in the middle of the large, sterile room. "Rinoa..." 

Laguna followed his son's gaze. She was laying on her back, her body covered by white sheets with only her head exposed. Dark hair rested perfectly on the white pillow, framing a fragile face as she laid on a cushioned metal bed. "You fell in love with an amazing woman." 

Squall eye's burned with tears he was forcing back as he stood behind a heavy glass window and looked into the tiny chamber where Rinoa was inside of. The chamber was in the middle of the massive, empty room. 

"What's amazing is that she loved me..." Squall said. He raised his hand and touched the cold glass, wishing to touch her once more. He winced inwardly as his heart felt another stab. Was she cold inside? "I wanted to set you free, Rin...I wanted you to be happy..." 

Laguna took a step back, feeling that his son need some private time. "I'll...I'll be in the limo." 

Squall nodded numbly as he caressed the glass over her face. "I want to be with you," he told her softly as soon as the doors closed behind him. "I want to spend eternity with you. But you gave up everything so I could live...you'd hate me if I wasted it..." he mumbled. "I'll always love you, Rinoa...Just wait for me," he closed his eyes and leaned down. His lips touched the icy glass and he felt warm drops coming from his eyes. They fell on the cool glass. "Just wait a little longer..." 

* * *

Esthar Speedway was practically empty. It was past midnight, and yet one lone rider continued what he had been doing for hours - riding his motorcycle. The bike hugged the corners as he sped past the empty stands. He still felt that it would take some time to regain his former caliber, but he didn't care. 

He enjoyed cutting through the darkness. He felt free as he flew down the bare speedway, his helmet clasped on to his head as his gloved hands gripped the handles tightly. It was a simple pleasure to escape reality for just a moment. 

The full moon shone in the sky as a dark limo pulled up to the front of the speedway. A tall blond man leaned back against one of the seats. "Quisty says that Zell is waiting at the gate to let you in." he said casually. 

The young woman nodded. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" asked a cowboy dressed young man, who had his arm around a petite young brunette. 

"If you need anything, you have our cell, okay!?" the green eyed brunette asked. 

The young woman with the dark hair with blond streaks smiled and nodded once more. "If he tries anything..." a deep voice added. They had been hiding for months, trying to keep a low profile to avoid the media. 

"Dad, I'll be fine." she insisted. The chauffeur opened the door and the blond lifted up the cell phone to his ear. 

"All right, she's heading out now." he said into the phone. She had spent months in a special room in Esthar's Sorceress Memorial to regain lost energy that she had poured into Squall. The process was long and she had been in deep sleep, almost deathlike, but when she had awoken, it was worth it. 

The young woman stepped out, wearing simple cream colored dress and heels. She reached up to her neck and gently played with the silver rings hanging on her necklace. The door closed and the green eyed girl grabbed on to the cowboy's leather jacket. 

"Irvy, let's go watch!" she insisted. 

"Just wait a second, Selphie," Irvine smiled with a chuckle. "We don't want to be too obvious that we're spying." 

"Pssh..." the blond said as he pressed a button on the side of the limo and brought down a small television. "You two can spy all you want. I've got surveillance cameras." 

"That's lame, Seifer!" Selphie said. "You take all the fun out of it!" 

"Okay," Irvine said as he looked out the window. "General, Seifer, we're heading out." 

He gave a small salute as he and Selphie opened the other door and sneaked out. The brown eyed girl was ahead of them and already reached the front gate. Zell was waiting for her and waved excitedly as they approached. She giggled and waved back. 

After she fell, Laguna had Kiros and Ward take her to be checked in Esthar. Irvine and Selphie accompanied them. Caraway joined them later, on the verge of killing Laguna, but allowed Rinoa to be cared for by Esthar's technology. She was kept away from the public eye and a rumor had been spread that Rinoa Caraway had died. 

In reality, she had lost consciousness and a large amount of energy, putting her into a comatose state, just as Squall was in. However, it would take her much longer to regain her magic and get her healthy once more. When she woke, her new identity as simple Rinoa Heartilly was prepared and she would be relatively safe from a sorceress hating world. Now she would gain the only thing she needed. 

"Been a long few months, huh?" she asked. Zell nodded and opened the door. 

"Don't get run over!" he teased. She shook her head and blushed, embarrassed that even Zell knew how she first met Squall. 

A tall blond female was waiting for her and pointed out the direction to go. She nodded and went out into the designated area. On the wide black asphalt track, there was a yellow and black line. It was the finish line. 

She looked back nervously and the blond gave her a thumbs up. She turned back to the track and took a deep breath and stepped out into the track. 

* * *

The sound of a motorcycle echoed in his ears as he checked his time. He had to leave before the speedway went on automatic lock down. 

*One more lap!* he thought. He tightened his hold on the bike and sped forward. He hugged a corner and ended up on the final straight way. He could see the banners of the finish line up ahead. The moon hung over it, as if he were going to ride right into it. 

His blue eyes narrowed. Someone was standing on the track. He grabbed the breaks and the motorcycle let out a screech as it skidded forward. Squall was able to keep his control over it and tilted the bike to it's side as it skidded several yards. 

The sound of the engine stuttered below him as he stopped a few yards from the finish line. His breathing was shallow as he put up the kick stand. His eyes were locked on to the figure standing in front of him. Squall's hands rose and lifted the helmet off his head. 

He stared ahead of him, not able to believe what he was seeing. His helmet dropped to the ground. 

She lifted up a silver ring that was attached to her necklace and smiled. "Well?" Rinoa asked softly as the cool night wind blew through her layered dark hair. Soft, chocolate colored eyes looked at him intently. Squall slowly got off his bike and stood next to it, shock and disbelief written all over his face as if he were afraid to believe it. She stood there with open arms patiently. Squall began to run forward and she smiled. "I'm waiting." 

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

** Author's Notes & Thank Yous:**

General Thank You  
To everyone who has read this story, I hope you found some pleasure in it. Thank you so much for reading and for all your support, it means a lot to me. The encouragement really helps and I hope that I didn't keep you waiting for the end too long. I hope you'll drop by again. I want to thank all the reviewers especially. I usually write down everyone's name, but there are too many and it's 12:33 AM. -_-;; But you all know who you are and I thank you so much for telling me what you think. I'm sorry that this story has to end, I had a lot of fun writing it. It was too fluffy, huh? Plus the songs I choose didn't really lessen the fluffiness. I love you all!   
Domo arigatou gosaimasu!  
Take Care,  
PasifiKStaR 

Notes  
What happened to Rinoa?   
_Rinoa spent all her magic to revive Squall and was so weak at the end, she was thrown into a coma. Laguna, realizing what she had done, had her taken to Esthar to be taken care of. She was put into the Sorceress Memorial for the sake of being 'sealed' so that the public, which hates sorceresses, would assume that she is no longer a threat. There she was taken care of and nursed back to health_   
What happened to Seifer, Irvine, Selphie, Raijin, Fujin, and General Caraway?  
_They went into hiding for a few months while Rinoa was recovering. That way, they'd be protected from the media as well during that time._   
So what happens after Squall runs into Rinoa's arms at the end?  
_They Lived Happily Ever After...duh. ^_^_


End file.
